South West LPAs Five Year Housing Land Supply Update
Greenslade Taylor Hunt reviews the housing land supply position of several South West councils following the revised National Planning Policy Framework published in December 2024.
The revised framework reinstated the requirement for every local planning authority to show a five-year supply of deliverable housing land, returned to the pre-December 2023 method of assessment and brought back the 5% buffer. Together with the new standard method for calculating housing need, this meant every authority in England had to recalculate its position, although many have continued to rely on older figures.
Three recent changes are highlighted:
• Sedgemoor (Somerset Area North) fell below the threshold in April 2025, dropping from 6.51 years to 4.77 years, a shortfall of 197 homes • Mid Devon was confirmed at appeal in June 2025 to have 4.79 years, a shortfall of 411 homes, with the figure forecast to fall to 2.1 years in July 2025 when its Local Plan becomes more than five years old • Dorset showed 5.02 years in its October 2024 Annual Position Statement, but this is expected to fall to as little as 2.67 years in October 2025, a shortfall thought to be around 8,000 homes
Where an authority cannot demonstrate a five-year supply, the so-called tilted balance applies: permission should be granted for new development unless specific NPPF policies indicate otherwise or the harms would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits.
Source: Greenslade Taylor Hunt, original article (17 July 2025)
