New Local Plan - Issues & Options (Regulation 18)

Table 1 Options for the scale of housing requirement

Note: The Local Housing Need (LHN) for the District in the Housing Distribution Paper and Statement of Common Ground is 534 homes per year based on Government's standard method for calculating housing need and data published in 2022. Although more recent 2023 data has been published this does not significantly impact LHN for the District. The LHN figures used in the Housing Distribution Paper and Statement of Common Ground have therefore been used for consistency.

Housing Supply

5.12 To ensure the housing requirement is met, the new Local Plan will need to identify a supply of housing land to achieve this target. This means identifying a supply of homes greater than the requirement (known as a supply buffer or contingency) to ensure the housing requirement in the Plan is met in the event that something unexpected slows build rates over the next 15 years or so, such as economic factors or site-specific issues.

5.13 A decision on the scale of any supply contingency will depend on a number of factors and will be informed by the outcome of this consultation and further evidence. We are therefore interested in people's views on this. Examples nationally range significantly, but housing supply contingencies generally range between 5% and 25% above the housing requirement. At the time of its adoption in 2019, the current Local Plan contained a housing supply contingency of about 16%.

Scale of Housing Growth

Plan Period

5.14 A base date of 2020 for the plan period has been chosen for this consultation because it aligns with the Housing and Economic Needs Assessment (2022) and associated Housing and Employment Distribution Papers. An end date of 2041 is chosen because Government policy requires us to plan at least 15 years ahead from the date we adopt the new Local Plan which is currently scheduled for 2026 as per the timetable above.

Plan Period

Amount of Homes Remaining to be Planned

5.15 The amount of homes that need to be identified or planned for through the new Local Plan will largely be determined by the scale of annual housing requirement, the length of the plan period and the size of any housing supply contingency.

5.16 However, we already have a supply of homes that we can count towards meeting the amount we need to plan for in the new Local Plan. Our monitoring data shows we have a pipeline of 10,427 homes that have been built since 2020 or are already committed with planning permission/allocated in a plan.

5.17 To give some context of the scale of housing growth we may need to plan for, if we take the medium housing requirement of 657 per year (2020 – 2041) and include a supply contingency of 20% we would need to identify a total supply of 16,556 homes between 2020 and 2041. Assuming the pipeline of 10,427 homes are built before 2041 (including the two Strategic Development Areas at Scraptoft North and East of Lutterworth allocated in the current Local Plan 2019) we would need to plan for a further 6,129 homes – i.e. 6,129 homes on top of the 10,427 home pipeline.

Options for the Location of Housing Growth

Settlement Hierarchy

5.18 The Council has published a new Settlement Hierarchy Assessment to understand which of the District's settlements are the most sustainable. The settlement hierarchy does not set the level or distribution of development. Appropriate levels of development for settlements will be informed by the outcome of this consultation and further evidence which will feed into the next version of the Local Plan.

5.19 Government policy requires local plans to promote a sustainable pattern of development and play an active role in guiding development towards sustainable solutions, while taking local circumstances into account to reflect the character, needs and opportunities of each area.

5.20 As a large rural district, Harborough has approximately 100 settlements ranging from those adjoining the urban area of Leicester and market towns to very small villages and hamlets. The classification of towns, villages and rural settlements is therefore important.

5.21 Settlements in higher tiers of the hierarchy will often be more sustainable locations for new development due to residents being able to access a wider range of services and facilities more easily. Settlements work by providing a range of services for their residents and for a wider area. Typically, larger settlements have more services and serve a wider area.

5.22 The settlement hierarchy is being updated to form part of the evidence base for the new Local Plan. The current settlement hierarchy is set out in the Local Plan 2011-2031 (2019). The new assessment has allowed for a new approach to be taken in terms of the range of services and facilities audited and the categorisation of settlements so that they can continue to benefit and serve residents in both urban and rural areas.

5.23 The proposed settlement hierarchy is set out below:

Table 2 Proposed settlement hierarchy

Settlement Hierarchy

Spatial Options for the Location of Housing

5.24 Taking into account the settlement hierarchy, six broad spatial options for delivering the three different scales of growth (Low, Medium, High) between 2020 and 2041 have been identified:

• Option 1: Local Plan Strategy
• Option 2: Proportional Growth
• Option 3: Urban Area Focus
• Option 4: Strategic Sites Focus
• Option 5: Market Town Focus
• Option 6: Large Village Focus

5.25 These options have been assessed through the Sustainability Appraisal.

5.26 For each option an indicative map has been produced below, to give a broad visual illustration of where new housing will be focussed under each spatial option between 2020 and 2041 – large circles indicate more housing growth and small circles indicate less. The size of the circle reflects the relevant housing requirement over the entire plan period. (Note: due to the scale of growth in medium and small villages the size of circle used for these settlements is the same).

5.27 To give an indication of the potential amount of housing that each option generates for each tier of the settlement hierarchy, a table shows the potential housing requirement 2020-2041 for each tier based on the medium scale of growth above (657 homes per year) with a 20% housing supply contingency added. Alongside this, the current pipeline of housing completions and commitments for each tier and the remaining amount of housing to be planned is also included.

5.28 The colour of each circle on the map reflects the colour of each tier of the settlement hierarchy in the table.

Option 1: Local Plan Strategy

5.29 This option is based on a continuation of the strategy in the currently adopted Local Plan 2019. It focuses significant growth towards the Market Towns in line with the current Local Plan strategy. Settlements adjoining the Leicester Urban Area and Large Villages accommodate a broadly similar level of housing growth overall, but due to the relatively low number of commitments in the Large Villages, the amount of additional homes to be planned/allocated in the new Local Plan would be higher than in the settlements adjoining Leicester.

Figure 6 Option 1: Local Plan Strategy map

Table 3 Option 1 housing requirements by settlement hierarchy

Table 4 Strengths and weaknesses for Option 1

Option 2: Proportional Growth (Census 2021 household numbers)

5.30 This option is based on proportional growth. It spreads development according to the number of households in each settlement.

5.31 This option reduces the amount of growth in settlements at the top end of the hierarchy and increases growth at the lower end, particularly in the Medium Villages, Small Villages and Other settlements which see their highest levels of growth under this option compared to the other options. The key differences compared to Option 1: Local Plan Strategy is a significantly reduced role for settlements adjoining the Leicester Urban Area; a reduced role of Market Towns; and greater amounts of growth for the Large, Medium, Small and Other Villages/Settlements.

Figure 7 Option 2: Proportional Growth map

Table 5 Option 2 housing requirements by settlement hierarchy

Table 6 Strengths and weaknesses for Option 2

Option 3: Urban Area Focus

5.32 This option focuses development towards the District's most sustainable locations: the settlements adjoining the urban area of Leicester (Scraptoft/Thurnby/Bushby). Sites capable of accommodating more than 1,500 homes in Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) are not included in this option. They are considered through Option 4: Strategic Sites (see below).

5.33 This option seeks to focus as much growth as possible towards settlements adjoining the urban area of Leicester with lower levels of growth in the rest of the District.

Figure 8 Option 3: Urban Area Focus map

Table 7 Option 3 housing requirements by settlement hierarchy

Table 8 Strengths and weaknesses for Option 3

Option 4: Strategic Sites Focus

5.34 This option focuses development towards large strategic sites capable of accommodating more than 1,500 homes in total from the Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment. These large strategic sites are generally located around the South and East of the Leicester Urban Area and may require strategic infrastructure to be delivered. The sites are:

• Farmcare Estate, Stoughton (SHELAA site reference: 21/8229)
• Land at Stretton Hall Farm, Chestnut Drive, Great Glen (SHELAA reference: 21/8093)
• Land at Newton Harcourt (Newton Croft) (SHELAA site reference: 21/8178)
• Whetstone Pastures Garden Village, Willoughby Waterleys (part of a larger strategic site in adjoining Blaby District) (SHELAA site reference 21/8217)
• Land east of Broughton Astley and North of Dunton Bassett and Ashby Magna (SHELAA site reference: 21/8192)

5.35 This option seeks to focus as much growth as possible into large Strategic Sites, with less growth in the rest of the District.

Figure 9 Option 4: Strategic Sites Focus map

Table 9 Option 4 housing requirements by settlement hierarchy

Table 10 Strengths and weaknesses for Option 4

Option 5: Market Town Focus

5.36 This option focuses growth towards the Market Towns (Lutterworth and Market Harborough) with less growth in the rest of the District.

Figure 10 Option 5: Market Town Focus map

Table 11 Option 5 housing requirements by settlement hierarchy

Table 12 Strengths and weaknesses for Option 5

Option 6: Large Village Focus

5.37 This option focuses growth towards the Large Villages (Broughton Astley, Great Glen, Fleckney, Kibworth) with less growth in the rest of the District.

Figure 11 Option 6: Large Village Focus map

Table 13 Option 6 housing requirements by settlement hierarchy

Table 14 Strengths and weaknesses for Option 6

Housing Spatial Options