Reduction in housing land supply confirmed by council

National policy requires Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) to have enough sites ready for development to meet their housing need for the next five years as a minimum.  

The Government’s new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was published on 12 December 2024 and applied immediately to planning application decisions. The Government also published an increased housing need figure of 723 dwellings per year for the Harborough district, which is an increase of 213 above the previous need of 510. The NPPF requires authorities like Harborough District Council to identify a supply of deliverable sites sufficient to provide a minimum of five years’ worth of housing based on the higher 723 need. Given the Government's increased housing need, the Harborough district can no longer show it provides a 5-year supply of deliverable sites for new housing and calculates this at 3.5 years. This must be considered in planning decisions taken in the district.

Under the previous method of calculating the 5-year land supply, it is likely that the council would still have been able to demonstrate a minimum 5-year housing land supply.  

The reduction in the number of years of housing land supply leaves the district at risk of speculative development for a temporary period until the new local plan is adopted. The number of years of land supply a council has is also a measure that is taken into account in the adoption of a new local plan.  

The council is working hard to mitigate the reduction in its housing land supply by continuing work on its new local plan to provide for future housing and sustainable development across the Harborough district in order to close the gap between housing supply and requirements.  

Cllr Galton, Cabinet lead for Planning, said: "The loss of our 5-year supply is a direct consequence of the increased housing numbers published by the Government just before Christmas. As a result, many councils including Harborough will face an increase in speculative planning applications on sites that are not proposed to be allocated in the new local plan. Local planning policies will be deemed out of date and the presumption in favour of sustainable development as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework will apply when applications are determined. This loss of local control over planning decisions is very disappointing but it underlines the importance of getting our new local plan adopted as soon as possible to restore the situation."  

“The council will also continue to support the fantastic work done by many in its local communities to prepare Neighbourhood Plans. This commitment and effort from local communities is greatly valued and recognised by the council.” 

Read a more detailed statement about the council’s current housing land supply on the council’s website.