The 2021 Housing Delivery Tests (HDT) results were published last month, revealing the 51 councils facing the strictest planning penalty – the presumption in favour of sustainable development.
What is the Housing Delivery Test?
The Housing Delivery Test is an annual measurement of housing delivery in the area of relevant plan-making authorities.
The Housing Delivery Test is a percentage measurement of the number of net homes delivered against the number of homes required, as set out in the relevant strategic policies for the areas covered by the Housing Delivery Test, over a rolling three-year period.
What is the Presumption in favour of Sustainable Development?
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out the government's planning policies for England and how these are expected to be applied. It is the foundation on which local authority development plans are based. It states that:
(d) where there are no relevant development plan policies, or the policies which are most important for determining the application are out-of-date, permission should be granted unless:
i. the application of policies in the NPPF that protect areas or assets of particular importance provides a clear reason for refusing the development proposed; or
ii. any adverse impacts of doing so would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits, when assessed against the policies in this Framework taken as a whole.
The term ‘out-of-date’ includes, for applications involving the provision of housing, situations where the Housing Delivery Test indicates that the delivery of housing was substantially below (less than 75% of) the housing requirement over the previous 3 years.
As such, if your local authority failed to deliver at least 75% of their housing requirement then their development plan policies which restrict the location of housing are out of date. The planning authority will be required to grant permission unless any adverse impacts of doing so would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits. This creates a window of opportunity for new sites to come forward which would not normally be acceptable in principle. It is important to act quickly as, if the Council are able to rectify their position before applications are determined, policies will be given full weight again.
Councils are to deliver at least 95% of their housing target in order to pass the 2021 test and 75% to avoid the presumption penalty. However, this hasn’t always been the case. In 2018, when the test was first introduced, Councils had to deliver 25% before facing the presumption in favour of sustainable development; this increased to 45% in 2019 and 75% in 2020.
Even though there were adjustments made to the 2021 test as a result of fluctuations in construction output during the Covid-19 pandemic, there were still many Councils who fell short of the target. 2021’s worst performer was Southend-On-Sea Borough Council, delivering only 31% of required homes, performing worse than the previous year at 36%.
45% of London Boroughs experienced a reduction in housing delivery over the course of the year, however Redbridge Borough improved the most, moving from 59% to 135% in just a year.
Consequences for Local Planning Authorities:
Presumption: 75% or less
Buffer of 20%: 85% or less
Action Plan: 95% or less
None: Over 95%
Bradford, Canterbury, Tonbridge and Malling, Walsall, and Windsor & Maidenhead have now become presumption authorities and are now required to consider each planning application with the presumption of sustainable development. Additionally, these authorities (excluding Windsor and Maidenhead) are yet to reach an advanced stage of their Emerging Local Plans. This could lead to opportunities for ad hoc, speculative development.
The results for the 2021 Housing Delivery Tests can be found here. If you believe your Local Authority is under delivering and you may have some land within this area, feel free to get in touch.