Housing Delivery Test and Action Plan
The Housing Delivery Test (HDT) was introduced by government through the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that was first published in July 2018 as a way to monitor whether a local planning authority is building enough homes to meet its housing requirement over a three year period.
The HDT measures the number of new homes built over the previous three years against the authority’s housing requirement. Local planning authorities are required to take appropriate actions where certain delivery target thresholds, as set out in the NPPF, are not met. These include the following:
- Where housing delivery falls below 95% of local authority’s housing requirement, local planning authorities should prepare a ‘Housing Action Plan’ that sets out the causes of under delivery and the intended actions to increase housing delivery within its administrative area.
- Where housing delivery falls below 85% of the local authority’s housing requirement, a 20% buffer on the local planning authority’s five year housing land supply position should be applied.
- Where housing delivery falls below 75% of the local authority’s housing requirement, the NPPFs presumption in favour of sustainable development (paragraph 11 of the NPPF) will apply in decision-taking.
It should be noted that these consequences apply concurrently. For example, if the local planning authority falls below 85% of its housing delivery target, then an ‘Housing Action Plan’ should be produced, as well as the application of a 20% buffer on its five year housing land supply position. The consequences will continue to apply until the next HDT measurement is published. The latest HDT measurement for Wealden District Council is outlined below.
2021 Housing Delivery Test Measurement
The 2021 HDT results were published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on 14 January 2022. This stated that Wealden District Council had a 2021 HDT measurement of 82%. The full results can be found on the government’s website.
Whilst the Council has delivered a significant number of new homes in the last year, (particularly in view of the Covid-19 pandemic) and granted a significant increase in new planning consents, our HDT results has not improved for the 2021 measurement and we therefore revised and published an updated Housing Action Plan in June 2022.
Therefore, the Council’s current Five Year Housing Land Supply position as of 1st April 2021 remains unchanged and can be found here:
Housing Action Plan
The Housing Action Plan is produced by a local planning authority where delivery is below 95% of their housing requirement. It will identify the reasons for under-delivery, explore ways to reduce the risk of further under-delivery and set out measures the authority intends to take to improve levels of delivery.
The Council’s Housing Action Plan for the 2021 HDT measurement can be found below:
The Council will seek to update this Housing Action Plan following the publication of the 2022 HDT measurement result.