Dec 2010 - South Worcestershire Development Plan

SOUTH WORCESTERSHIRE ANNUAL MONITORING REPORT 2010617.4 Demographic projections are important considerations whenconsidering the level of housing required. However at the same timethey do not give a simple answer to the question of how much housingshould be provided at regional, sub-regional or local level.7.5 The following sections will distinguish the differences betweenpopulation and household projects, identify local population andhousing projection data and finally assess the impact on current andfuture housing land supplies.Population Projections7.6 Population projections relate to the number of people projected to livein an area at a particular point in time in the future. This is distinct fromhousehold projections which relate to the number of householdsprojected to live in the area. In 2006, the estimated average householdsize in the West Midlands was 2.36 people per household. The use ofboth types of projections is well established in planning, for example:• Household projections are commonly used to give anindication of the additional number of households that mayrequire new housing, if past demographic trends were tocontinue;• Where as population projections are commonly used as a keybasic input into the production of household projections.7.7 The latest available official population projections are the 2008-basedSub-national Population Projections for England (SNPP). These werepublished by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in May 2010. The2008-based projections give the most recent indication of future longterm trends in population for the period 2008-2033.7.8 The sub-national population projections are trend based projectionswhich means assumptions about future levels of births, deaths and