Housing land supply

Housing Land Supply and how this impacts planning decisions including 5 year land supply reports

National planning policy expects councils to have a five-year supply of deliverable housing land. Our current supply is 4.2 years, which is below the five-year requirement.

When a council cannot demonstrate a five-year supply, national policy requires planning applications to be considered using the adopted Local Plan, and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), including the “presumption in favour of sustainable development”

In practice, the “presumption” means planning permission should normally be granted unless the NPPF includes strong reasons to refuse (for example, nationally protected environmental constraints, flood risk and other protected areas), or the harm would clearly outweigh the benefits.

Our approach

We will carefully assess any developer proposals to make sure homes are delivered in sustainable locations, with the right infrastructure. Any planning application will follow the normal statutory consultation process.

The Council is also the landowner of One Horton Heath, and we are actively working to deliver new homes there to help improve housing supply.

Proposals by developers

Five-year housing land supply

Following a change to national guidance in December 2024, we are now required to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply (National Planning Policy Framework, paragraph 72). The latest report was prepared in January 2026 with a base date of 1 April 2025. 

For the purpose of calculating the current position, the revised NPPF requires a 5% buffer and this is included in the report. The latest supply is therefore 4.2 years. 

Latest five year supply report

Previous five year housing land supply reports: