A £20,000 housing survey will be the biggest piece of "social research" ever carried out in Bolton, council chiefs have announced. There was a storm about the cost of it at a recent housing committee meeting. But housing chiefs have now given more details of the work which will be carried out by a team from Manchester University.

It will look at the town's housing needs for the new Millennium and is expected to take seven months to complete and there will be consultation with developers, banks, building societies and other groups and individuals.

The council's housing department has commissioned the work along with Bolton Community homes, a company set up with housing associations which has built more than 1,500 homes over the last five years.

Cllr Noel Spencer, housing committee chairman, said: "This is a massive piece of social research, the first of its kind undertaken in the borough.

"The survey will give us guidelines on the nature and extent of current housing needs and aspirations across all sectors and the whole range of Bolton's population.

"We can prepare household growth projections based on detailed local analysis.

"It's a marvellous opportunity to plan for the future and I would urge as many people as possible to get involved. The more detailed the feedback, the better chance we have to get it right for tomorrow."

The Government has forecast that another 4.4 million homes are needed in England and Wales up to the year 2016, it is estimated that Bolton will need another 900.

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