Paragraph 47 of the NPPF requires that a five-year land supply is demonstrated against the housing requirement of the Local Plan. Policy SS1 identifies a target for 640 homes per annum, which according to the definition in paragraph 37 of the High Court Judgment of Gallagher Homes Ltd et al vs Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council [2014] EWHC 1283 (Admin) must represent the housing requirement. It is therefore necessary to assess the five-year land supply against the housing requirement of 640 rather than the objectively assessed need of 557.

The proposed approach would also fail to accept the unmet objectively assessed needs of Leicester City which Harborough District are required to address. This would mean that the objectively assessed needs across the HMA could remain undelivered and the required policy response of the NPPF would not be engaged. The proposed approach would run entirely contrary to national policy.