Regulation 19 - Proposed Draft Local Plan Submission

The uplift in housing need introduced by the NPPF needs to be reflected in the draft local plan and will have an obvious impact.

Paragraph 237 of the NPPF advises, those local plans that reach Regulation 19 (pre-submission stage) on or before 12 March 2025 and whose draft housing requirement meets less than 80% of local housing need should proceed to examination within a maximum of 18 months from 12 December 2024, or 24 months of that date if the plan has to return to the Regulation 18 stage.

The housing requirement clearly needs to be increased in order to meet local housing need introduced by the revised publication of the NPPF. The contribution made to assist in meeting Leicester City's unmet need also requires updating to reflect the new standard method because the contribution and apportionment is currently based on the SOCG dated June 2022 which reflects the standard method at that time and not the revised NPPF 2024.

The plan should return to Regulation 18 Stage to increase the annual housing requirement to meet the updated local housing need figure for Harborough District, review the apportionment to reflect Leicester City's unmet need, extend the plan period to account the for additional time required for preparation and identify further sites for allocation to meet the increased housing needs.

Overall annual housing requirement:
For plan making paragraph 11 of the NPPF requires all plans to meet the development needs of their area and as a minimum, provide for objectively assessed needs for housing as well as any needs that cannot be met within neighbouring areas.

The new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was published December 2024. The publication of the new NPPF now gives an increased Local Housing Need figure of 723 homes per year for Harborough District, representing approximately a 30% increase when compared to the current adopted local plan requirement.

The New Local Plan is submitted under the transitional arrangements. For plans which have reached Regulation 19 stage on or before 12th March 2025 paragraph 234 (a) of the NPPF requires draft housing requirements to meet at least 80% of local housing need. Footnote 83 states this is to be: calculated using the standard method in NPPG, published on 12 December 2024

Policy DS01 does not achieve 80% of the local housing need figure as required under 234(a) of the NPPF under the transitional arrangement.

This is because, Policy DS01 provides housing requirement for Harborough District of 13,182 between 2020 and 2041. The annual housing requirement is broken down as 657 homes per year between 2020 and 2036, and 534 homes per year between 2036 and 2041.

However, as referenced at paragraph 4.6 of the New Local Plan, the 657 annual requirement includes 123 dwellings per year towards meeting Leicester City's unmet need. Deducting the 123 dwellings per year for Leicester City, leaves an annual requirement of 534 homes per year to meet Harborough District's local housing need.

As highlighted above, Harborough District's local housing need, using the standard method, is 723 dwellings per year. The proposed 534 dwellings per year as a percentage of 723 equates to 74% of the the housing need figure for Harborough not 80%.

Policy DS01 does not therefore achieve 80% of the local housing need figure as required under the transitional arrangements set out paragraph 234(a) and footnote 83 of the NPPF.

The plan does not meet the tests of soundness because it has not been positively prepared to meet the area’s local housing needs; it is not justified or effective because it has limited the housing requirement and has made insufficient provision for housing; and is inconsistent with national policy as a result.

If the 123 dwellings per year proposed to meet Leicester City's unmet need were counted toward Harborough District's local housing need, the plan would not meet the test of soundness because it would not be positively prepared or effective so that unmet need from neighbouring areas is accommodated. In either scenario, the policy does not meet the test of soundness or requirements of para 11.

The Plan Period:
Paragraph 22 of the NPPF is clear that strategic policies should look ahead over a minimum period of 15 years from the point of adoption. The proposed submisison draft covers 2020-2041. As the overall housing strategy falls short of the housing need, the plan needs to increase the annual requirement and return back to Regulation 18 Stage. In order for the plan to look over a minimum of 15 years from the point of adoption, the plan would need to be adopted during the monitoring year 2025/2026. It is considered unlikely to achieve this given the shortcomings in meeting Harborough District's own housing need as identified. This would render the plan inconsistent with the NPPF and would fail one of the tests of soundness.