Local planning authorities are required to identify and update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide a minimum of five years’ worth of housing against their housing requirements (The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) paragraph 78).
The 5 Year Housing Land Supply sets out the five-year housing land supply position in East Hampshire District (not including the area within the South Downs National Park) at 1 April 2024.
It informs the council’s 'authority monitoring report' and future decisions on planning applications for housing development.
- Five year housing land supply 2024-29 (pdf 4.7 mb)
As result of the update, East Hampshire District Council can only demonstrate 2.7 years supply, equivalent to a 2,036-dwelling shortfall. This means that policies in the adopted Local Plan relating to housing supply cannot be considered up-to-date and the ‘planning balance’ has shifted whereby greater weight should be applied to the delivery of homes to address housing need.
Consequently, proposals for residential development should only be refused where any adverse impacts of doing so would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits.