Test and test again. It's a phrase we are all used to by now, albeit not in the context of housing land supply. For those of us interested in delivering significant numbers and a wide variety of housing types, these familiar words are also creeping into the vocabulary of new residential development in some of our major cities such as Leeds, Bradford and Sheffield. 

Measuring housing supply and delivery is currently tested in every local planning authority (LPA). The five-year housing land supply test looks to future supply and the housing delivery test measures past delivery. These tests are anchored to the particular housing needs of the LPA and are well understood. 

What we are currently missing is another test for the distribution of housing growth, the provision of a range of house types and the delivery of affordable housing within the LPA. 

Recent market trends in some cities have led to significant additional numbers of city centre-based schemes for one and two bed apartments, the private rented sector and student accommodation over and above the quantities originally envisaged at plan making/housing supply formulation stages.

These developments are welcome and are clearly fulfilling important housing needs. LPAs are understandably usually supportive of them because they represent high density development in sustainable locations on previously developed land.  

The unintended consequence of this trend has been for LPAs to rely increasingly on these sources of supply and therefore to resist the release or the allocation of greenfield sites as part of Local Plan making processes. The rationale for this approach is easy to follow – why do we need to make contentious greenfield/green belt decisions when overall housing numbers can be achieved through high density city centre development and previously developed sites? The complementary policies relating to distribution around the district or across housing market character areas are forgotten or given lesser weight.

The result is a mismatch between the identified needs across the LPA ranging from city centre living to family housing versus what is being delivered in reality. The overall number might be met, but the distribution, type of housing and the provision of affordable housing are not. 

Recent government announcements regarding brownfield site delivery funding linked to the Levelling Up agenda are most welcome and will in many cases make the difference between particular sites coming forward or not. However, this is not the answer to fulfilling housing needs on its own. A portfolio of sites will always be required to meet the full range of housing needs across any LPA area. 

The message, therefore, is that while we are testing we need to test again.

Further information

Contact Adam Key

Savills Planning