MORE than 7,000 households in Clitheroe are to be targeted in the town's biggest ever housing survey.

Ribble Valley Council is undertaking the survey in conjunction with Clitheroe Town Council in a bid to prove to developers there is a demand for affordable housing.

Every home in the market town will receive the five-page survey over the coming weeks requesting views on housing need and provision.

The survey, the first of its kind, is being spearheaded by Ribble Valley Council's forward planning manager Mike Kirby, who said the results would be used to plan long-term housing provision in the rural borough.

He said: "We want to assess local housing needs in terms of property size, type, tenure and price. This is the first detailed survey of its kind in Ribble Valley and the results will enable us to make effective planning decisions.

"Even if people do not have a housing need, it will help us if they take part in the survey. We are hoping for a high participation rate and the results should be available within two months."

The anonymous survey will question residents on the type of properties they live in, what they earn and what they could afford to pay for a house.

There has been a 60 per cent increase in property prices in Ribble Valley since 2001 and the price of a modest two-bedroomed house in the picturesque rural borough is now around £94,000.

And concerned Ribble Valley housing bosses told a community forum earlier this year that more than 500 prospective council tenants were chasing just 26 properties.

But last month the Government turned down a borough council funding bid for 200 affordable homes because of uncertainty over the future of local government in the North West.

Similar studies are planned for Longridge, which has also enjoyed a massive boom in property demand. The opening of a junction on the M6 has put the town within 10 minutes of the motorway network.