Councillor, let me explain the NEW six-year housing supply…
The government has introduced a new requirement for some Councils to add a 20 per cent buffer to their five-year housing land supply figure from July 2026. This represents a “6th year” and YOUR Council may be one of them.
This will put new pressure on Councils to find the land for the numbers and give developers a chance to look again at prospective sites to help these Councils to get that extra year’s supply of housing.
This “six year housing supply” only applies to Councils with adopted OR emerging Local Plans based on the old housing targets (yes, that’s the chaps how at the end of last year rushed in a Local Plan thinking they can get away with fewer numbers).
The new NPPF says that if the annual housing number in the Local Plan is 80 per cent or less than the local need figure calculated by the government’s NEW revised housing numbers, they will have to add a new 20 per cent buffer to their five-year housing land supply figure from the beginning of July 2026. The 20 per cent buffer works out effectively at an extra year’s land supply, meaning affected Councils will have to make sites available for six years instead of five.
This will lead to a substantial increase in numbers in some places that would vary between a hundred but on some of the bigger councils, to four figures.
A failure to demonstrate a six-year housing land supply will result in more Councils facing exposure to the presumption in favour of sustainable development or what some may refer to as “speculative development”.
It is again a demonstration by this Government that they are very serious about delivering the 1.5 million homes. I had the opportunity to speak to Keir Starmer, in person, just after the new NPPF came out (he happens to be my local MP) and I had a short discussion about it with him. He, Angela Rayner, Rachel Reeves and the whole Government is fully committed to the 1.5 million target and to quote him “we must build the 1.5 million new homes”.
I know there are lots of critics saying the 1.5 million homes are undeliverable. My message to them is very simple: If you don’t have a target to aim for, then how will you achieve anything?
Yes, the six year land supply is no doubt a bit of a surprise to some Councils (and I am sure a lot of Councillors will object to this “move of the goal posts”. Those Councils with adopted Local Plans and those who rushed in Local Plans under the old numbers might have thought they would have to do less but the reality is that they will have to do their bit… just like everyone else. The 1.5million new homes is NOT up for negotiation!
If you have a site in a Council with a Local Plan that you think you want to bring forward, call us!
Henry