52 local authorities out of 317 have failed to deliver over 75 per cent of their housing requirement in the three years to March 2020. These areas will face presumption in favour of sustainable development as per sanctions set out in the 2020 Housing Delivery Test.
The figure is a substantial increase on the eight local authorities that faced the most stringent sanction under the 2019 test. The increase is, in part, due to the introduction of the highest housing delivery threshold for presumption in favour to apply since the test was introduced in 2018.
Over two thirds of local authorities have passed the test under the 2020 measurement, delivering over 95 per cent of their housing requirement. In the three years to March 2020, these 215 local authorities delivered a total of 602,549 homes against a total housing requirement of 416,554.
An additional 10 per cent of local authorities delivered between 85 per cent and 95 per cent of housing need in the three-year period, and will be required to produce an action plan exploring ways to reduce the risk of further under delivery within the next year.
We have calculated the results for local authorities that came into being on 1 April 2019 using the combined housing requirement and delivery figures of
their constituent former local authorities.