Issue - meetings

Consideration was given to a report which provided Members with an update on the level of housing supply in the Borough based on the 5 years starting from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2030.

The report provided members with an update on housing supply and delivery in the Borough. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was clear that the implications of not being able to demonstrate a five-year housing supply or pass the housing delivery test were that the NPPF ‘Presumption in Favour of Sustainable Development’ would apply to planning applications. The NPPF required Council’s to update their position annually.

The Council adopted the current Local Plan on the 30th January 2019, following an independent examination which identified that the Local Plan was a ‘sound’ document. A review was completed in January 2024 to coincide with the Local Plan being five-years old. This concluded that the level of housing supply should be measured against the Government’s Local Housing Need.

In December 2024 Government updated the methodology for calculating the Local Housing Need. This meant the figure for Stockton-on-Tees Borough increased from circa 440 dwellings per annum to 746 dwellings per annum. The method required an annual update and the requirement in this assessment was for 767 dwellings per annum.

The report was accompanied by a Housing Supply Assessment which covered the period 2025 – 2030 and identified 4.00 years of housing supply. Given the findings of the assessment the Council could not demonstrate a five-year housing supply. In accordance with the ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’ set out in the NPPF, situations where the local planning authority could not demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable housing sites meant that the policies which were most important for determining the application were out-of-date. Therefore, applications for future residential development should be granted permission unless:

i. the application of policies in the NPPF Framework that protect areas or assets of particular importance provides a strong 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 the NPPF taken

as a whole, having particular regard to key policies for directing development

to sustainable locations, making effective use of land, securing well-designed

places and providing affordable homes, individually or in combination.

The latest published Housing Delivery Test figure related to the 2023 period in which the measurement for the Borough was 124% (a delivery of 1525 dwellings vs a requirement of 1234 dwellings). Whilst Government had not published Housing Delivery Test results for 2024 and 2025 as, yet it was anticipated that the Housing Delivery Test result for these years would exceed 100%. Following the change to the Local Housing Need, housing delivery in future periods would be measured against a higher requirement. Therefore, passing the Housing Delivery Test in the future may be more challenging.

The main topics discussed were as follows:

Members raised concerns as to the lack of evidence explaining why a great  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40