Legal advice leads to lower housing figures
But - we might have to take homes from neighbouring areas
A top planning lawyer has advised that EHDC’s housing figures should drop from 1,142 to 828.
But he warns the number may increase again as the council will be expected to take homes not delivered by the South Downs National Park and other neighbouring authorities.
In December 2024, the Government introduced a mandatory housing number for East Hampshire of 1,142 homes a year. This was recently reduced to 1,119 but is still almost double our previous housing target.
EHDC has lobbied the Government to explain that more than half the district is inside the South Downs National Park and, as such, protected from development. A unique situation that would place the largest burden of housing on a comparatively small area of the district.
We engaged a planning lawyer, Paul Brown KC, to consider the Government’s new planning guidance in relation to how many homes should be delivered in East Hampshire outside the park.
His advice confirmed that according to the Government’s new planning policies there are exceptional circumstances in East Hampshire, something EHDC has long argued.
In turn, this supports our position that EHDC’s housing number, for areas outside the national park, should be nearer 828 homes per year.
While this is a helpful step forwards, it’s not a get out of jail card. EHDC, along with all planning authorities, must consider ‘unmet needs’ from neighbouring areas.
The national park remains a highly protected area and is not required to meet its own housing needs. The SDNPA’s emerging Local Plan is currently proposing that it doesn’t, leaving EHDC to pick up unallocated homes outside the park.
Also, densely populated neighbouring authorities may struggle to meet their Government housing targets, and there will be pressure on East Hampshire to take that development too.
Cllr Angela Glass, Portfolio Holder for Planning, said: "This advice is very welcome in taking us forwards and helping us to understand our own housing need. However, there remains a lot of pressure on us to deliver new homes in parts of East Hampshire outside of the national park.
“We now must work with the new planning policy and mandatory housing number. However, we will continue to do all we can to press the Government on this issue and strive for the best outcomes from the development proposed. Through our new local plan, we remain committed to a district that is prosperous, environmentally sustainable and a home to thriving communities.”
The Government is committed to its ‘growth agenda’ and has stated its intention to overhaul the planning system to reach 1.5 million new homes.
The overall housing number is mandatory and, combined with the changes that have been made to national planning policy, will have significant implications for East Hampshire district.