Housing Delivery Performance
What the Housing Delivery Test Measures
The Housing Delivery Test compares actual housing delivery with the amount of housing that should have been delivered across the same rolling period.
Homes Required
The denominator is the number of homes required during the relevant measurement period. Depending on the planning position, this may be drawn from an adopted housing requirement or calculated using the applicable local housing need approach.
The detailed rule book deals with older plans, newly adopted requirements, stepped requirements, joint plans and reorganised authorities.
Homes Delivered
The numerator is the net additional housing delivered. It is based on published statistics and data collected for the measurement, rather than simply counting planning permissions granted.
Conversions, changes of use and certain communal accommodation can contribute where the national measurement rules allow them to be counted.
Percentage Result
The result shows delivery as a percentage of the requirement. A result of 100% means the measured number of homes delivered equals the measured requirement; a lower percentage indicates under-delivery.
The percentage then determines whether the national policy consequences at the 95%, 85% or 75% thresholds apply.
The Housing Delivery Test measures completed housing, not the number of homes allocated, approved or expected to be built. A council can grant substantial planning permission and still record under-delivery if schemes do not progress to completed homes.
A Backward-Looking Test
Why Housing Delivery Matters to Development Land
Persistent under-delivery can show that the existing planning and development pipeline is not producing homes at the required rate.
The planning system does not only need to identify land and grant permission. Sites must also progress through technical design, conditions, infrastructure delivery, construction and occupation. The Housing Delivery Test provides a consistent national indicator of whether that final delivery is occurring.
Where delivery falls short, the result can expose weaknesses in the authority's existing strategy. Allocated sites may be delayed, permissions may not be implemented, infrastructure may be unavailable or the market may not be bringing forward the expected number of homes. Additional sites, different site types or a stronger focus on deliverability may therefore become important.
For a landowner, an under-delivery result can be relevant because it may increase the weight attached to proposals capable of delivering housing in a sustainable location. It can also influence Local Plan reviews, site selection, action-plan measures and the authority's approach to maintaining a robust pipeline.
However, the result must be used carefully. It is one part of the planning position and does not replace a site-specific assessment. Land with unsafe access, unacceptable flood risk, serious environmental harm or no credible delivery route will not become suitable merely because the authority has under-delivered.
The most useful opportunities are generally those where a poor delivery position is combined with well-located land, manageable constraints, realistic infrastructure and a clear prospect of homes being delivered within a reasonable period.
A Housing Delivery Test shortfall can strengthen the policy case for suitable housing, but it cannot repair fundamental site constraints. Policy opportunity and physical deliverability must be considered together.
National Policy Consequences
The 95%, 85% and 75% Thresholds
National policy applies progressively stronger consequences as the measured percentage of housing delivery falls.
Below 95% — Action Plan
The authority should prepare an action plan that identifies why housing delivery has fallen below the requirement and sets out measures intended to improve delivery.
The plan can examine stalled sites, planning processes, infrastructure, viability, land ownership, developer engagement and other obstacles affecting completions.
Below 85% — 20% Buffer
In addition to an action plan, the authority should apply a 20% buffer to its identified supply of specific deliverable housing sites.
The buffer is intended to improve the prospect of maintaining supply by bringing forward additional sites from later in the plan period. It affects the five-year supply calculation rather than rewriting the underlying housing requirement.
Below 75% — Presumption
In addition to the action plan and 20% buffer, the presumption in favour of sustainable development applies in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework.
This can cause the policies most important for determining a housing application to be treated as out of date for the purposes of the paragraph 11 planning balance, subject to the policy safeguards and limitations in the Framework.
95% or More — No HDT Consequence
Where delivery meets or exceeds 95%, the Housing Delivery Test itself does not trigger an action plan, 20% buffer or presumption consequence.
Other planning considerations can still apply, including an inadequate five-year housing land supply or a separate reason for using a 20% buffer under current national policy.
The consequences operate concurrently. An authority below 75% is not subject only to the presumption: it should also prepare an action plan and apply the 20% buffer.
Two Different Housing Tests
Housing Delivery Test vs Five-Year Housing Land Supply
The tests are closely connected, but they ask different questions and use different time periods.
The Housing Delivery Test looks backwards. It examines whether the authority delivered the number of homes required across the previous three financial years. It is concerned with completions and the performance of the development pipeline.
Five-year housing land supply looks forwards. It examines whether the authority can identify a sufficient supply of specific deliverable sites to meet the relevant housing requirement over the next five years, including the appropriate buffer.
An authority may perform well on past delivery but have an inadequate future supply because permissions and allocations are running down. Conversely, an authority may have a calculated five-year supply while still failing the Housing Delivery Test because homes on identified sites have not been completed quickly enough.
For landowners, checking only one measure can therefore give an incomplete picture. The strongest policy assessment considers the current Housing Delivery Test result, five-year supply position, Local Plan age, housing requirement, trajectory and the deliverability of the authority's principal sites.
Your land must then be placed within that wider context. A smaller site capable of early delivery may address a different need from a large strategic allocation requiring extensive infrastructure and a long lead-in period.
Questions to Check Together
- What is the authority's current Housing Delivery Test result and consequence?
- Can it demonstrate the required five-year supply with the correct buffer?
- How old is the adopted housing requirement and is the Local Plan being reviewed?
- Are major allocated or permissioned sites delayed, stalled or delivering below trajectory?
- Does the council's action plan identify a need for more small, medium or quickly deliverable sites?
- Can the land realistically contribute completed homes within the relevant period?
A published figure should never be read in isolation. The evidence behind the result and the site's ability to address the identified delivery problem are often more important than the percentage alone.
Understanding the Calculation
How the Requirement and Delivery Figures Are Selected
The headline percentage is simple, but the inputs are governed by detailed national measurement rules.
The homes-required figure is not always taken from the same source. A recently adopted and up-to-date strategic housing requirement may be used, while local housing need can become relevant where the plan position does not provide an applicable current requirement. The rule book also contains provisions for stepped requirements and requirements expressed as a range.
Joint plans require particular care. Authorities may be measured collectively across a joint plan area or separately where the adopted requirement and trajectory are apportioned. This can affect both the percentage result and the geographic area to which the consequences apply.
The delivered figure is based on net additional homes. It is not restricted to conventional new-build houses on greenfield allocations. Qualifying conversions, changes of use, demolitions and certain forms of student or other communal accommodation can influence the final total under the national methodology.
Local monitoring figures and the national measurement may not always appear identical because the datasets, adjustments and timing rules can differ. The formal Housing Delivery Test publication is the figure that triggers the national policy consequences.
Where a new housing requirement is adopted after results have been published, the measurement may be rerun in accordance with the rule book. Landowners should therefore check for updated calculations rather than relying on an older action plan or committee report.
Calculation Issues That Commonly Need Checking
- Whether an adopted housing requirement is sufficiently current to be used
- Whether local housing need is used for any part of the measurement
- How stepped or ranged requirements are treated
- Whether a joint plan is measured jointly or by individual authority
- How net completions and losses are reflected
- Whether communal accommodation adjustments are included
- Whether a new adopted requirement has caused a recalculation
For strategic decisions, use the formal government result and rule book alongside the council's monitoring evidence. Informal estimates can be helpful, but they do not themselves trigger national policy consequences.
Causes of Under-Delivery
Why Permissions and Allocations Do Not Always Become Homes
A shortfall may arise at several points between identifying land and completing dwellings.
Stalled or Slow Sites
Large sites may take years to move through land assembly, conditions, reserved matters, infrastructure and phased construction.
Delivery can be materially lower than the trajectory even where the principle of development is established.
Infrastructure Constraints
Highways, drainage, wastewater, electricity, schools and other infrastructure can delay starts or restrict the number of homes delivered.
The authority may need alternative sites that can use existing capacity or be delivered with more proportionate works.
Viability and Market Conditions
Construction costs, finance, sales values, affordable housing and planning obligations can affect whether a scheme proceeds at the expected rate.
A site may remain permitted but cease to be commercially deliverable without redesign, renegotiation or changed market conditions.
Land and Legal Barriers
Multiple ownerships, ransom strips, restrictive covenants, tenancies and access rights can prevent implementation.
A credible housing pipeline needs land that is genuinely available and capable of being assembled and controlled.
Planning and Technical Delay
Incomplete applications, unresolved technical objections, slow discharge of conditions and repeated design changes can extend programmes.
Action plans may identify opportunities to improve pre-application work, validation, decision-making and post-permission processes.
Over-Reliance on Major Allocations
A strategy dominated by a small number of complex sites can be vulnerable if one scheme slips.
A broader mix of small, medium and strategic sites can improve resilience and create more routes for delivery.
The practical cause of under-delivery matters. A landowner's case is stronger where the proposed site can address the type of problem identified—for example, by providing a smaller, infrastructure-light or earlier-delivering source of housing.
Council Response
What a Housing Delivery Test Action Plan Should Do
An action plan is intended to move beyond the percentage result and identify practical ways to improve delivery.
Diagnose the Problem
Review the housing trajectory, permissions, allocations, completion rates and stalled sites to identify where and why delivery is being lost.
Engage Stakeholders
Work with developers, land promoters, landowners, infrastructure providers and public bodies that influence the speed and certainty of delivery.
Set Targeted Actions
Identify measures such as unlocking infrastructure, diversifying sites, improving planning processes, addressing conditions or supporting stalled schemes.
Monitor Progress
Track whether the actions change starts, build-out rates and completions, and adjust the response as new evidence or the next measurement becomes available.
Landowners and promoters can be relevant stakeholders. Evidence that a site is available, technically credible and capable of contributing homes can help demonstrate why it should be considered within the authority's delivery response.
Landowner Opportunity
How an Under-Delivery Result Can Affect Your Land Strategy
The result can influence both planning applications and longer-term land promotion, but the appropriate route depends on the site.
For a planning application, an HDT result below 75% can be particularly relevant because it engages the presumption in favour of sustainable development under national policy. The decision maker must still identify the policies most important for determining the application, consider any protective policies and assess whether adverse impacts would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits when judged against the Framework taken as a whole.
For Local Plan promotion, persistent under-delivery can support the argument that the authority needs a more diverse and resilient supply of sites. This may be important where existing allocations are concentrated, infrastructure-dependent or consistently failing to meet the adopted trajectory.
For a Call for Sites or HELAA submission, the evidence should do more than refer to the council's percentage. It should explain how the land could contribute: its location, approximate capacity, availability, access, likely technical constraints, infrastructure position and anticipated delivery programme.
Smaller sites can sometimes provide earlier completions, but they are not automatically preferable. A credible submission should show that the scale proposed is appropriate, that ownership and access are controlled and that the site can progress without unresolved strategic dependencies.
The result may also affect valuation discussions. A stronger policy opportunity can increase developer interest, but value should not be assumed until the site's planning prospects, capacity, costs, timing and agreement structure have been properly assessed.
Evidence That Strengthens a Site
- A clear plan showing the full ownership and proposed development area
- Confirmation that the landowner is willing to bring the land forward
- A realistic access concept and control of any land needed for improvements
- An initial review of flood risk, drainage, ecology, landscape and heritage
- An indicative capacity that allows for infrastructure and constraints
- A credible route through application, Call for Sites or Local Plan promotion
- A delivery programme explaining when homes could realistically be completed
The central question is not merely whether the council needs more housing. It is whether this particular land can form part of a sustainable, available, achievable and deliverable response.
Important Limitations
What the Housing Delivery Test Does Not Prove
Avoiding overstatement is essential when assessing development potential.
It Does Not Allocate Land
A poor result does not place unallocated land into the development plan or alter a settlement boundary.
Allocation normally requires a plan-making process, evidence, consultation and examination.
It Does Not Grant Permission
Even where the presumption applies, the authority must determine the planning application on its merits.
Protective policies and site-specific harms can still justify refusal.
It Does Not Remove Constraints
Highway safety, flood risk, ecology, landscape, heritage, contamination and infrastructure do not disappear.
The proposal must demonstrate an acceptable response to the land's actual constraints.
It Does Not Fix the Land Value
A policy opportunity can affect prospects, but land value depends on capacity, sales values, costs, obligations, risk and timing.
A headline HDT percentage is not a substitute for a residual appraisal or marketing strategy.
Use the Housing Delivery Test as one part of a joined-up planning assessment. The result is most persuasive where it is supported by the five-year supply position, current policy evidence and a demonstrably deliverable site.
Practical Assessment
A Sensible Review Before Promoting or Applying
A staged review helps distinguish a genuine opportunity from a conclusion based only on a council-wide percentage.
Check the Current Result
Confirm the formal result, threshold consequence and date it took effect. Check whether it has been superseded or recalculated.
Review the Wider Evidence
Read the five-year supply statement, action plan, Local Plan position, housing trajectory and monitoring reports.
Assess the Site
Review settlement relationship, access, constraints, infrastructure, ownership, capacity and realistic delivery timing.
Choose the Right Route
Decide whether an application, Call for Sites submission, HELAA promotion or Local Plan representation offers the strongest strategy.
At Value My Land, we assess the policy opportunity and the land itself. This helps avoid spending money on a planning route that relies on a council-wide shortfall but cannot overcome site-specific issues.
Could Housing Under-Delivery Improve the Prospects of Your Land?
Send us the location of your land and we will review the current planning position, Housing Delivery Test context, Local Plan status and principal site constraints.
A postcode, map pin, what3words reference or plan showing the approximate boundary is normally enough for an initial assessment.
Live Planning Opportunities
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England Call for Sites Tracker
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Monitor plan preparation and identify where future development opportunities may arise.
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View Land AssessmentsRelated Guides
The Housing Delivery Test sits alongside five-year housing land supply, the tilted balance, Local Plan preparation and site deliverability. These guides explain the connected issues without duplicating the purpose of this page.
What Is a 5-Year Housing Land Supply?
Understand the forward-looking supply calculation, deliverable sites, buffers and why a shortfall can affect housing decisions.
Click hereThe Tilted Balance Planning Guide
Learn when the presumption in favour of sustainable development may apply and how the planning balance is approached.
Click herePlanning Policy and Development Land
See how national policy, Local Plans, settlement strategies and material considerations influence development prospects.
Click hereLocal Plan Allocation Guide
Find out how councils identify, assess and select land to meet future housing and other development needs.
Click hereSustainable, Available and Achievable Sites
Understand the tests applied when councils decide whether land represents a credible and deliverable development opportunity.
Click hereWhat Is a HELAA or SHLAA?
Learn how land availability assessments examine suitability, availability, achievability and potential housing capacity.
Click hereCall for Sites Guide
Understand how and when land can be submitted to a council for consideration through plan-making and evidence work.
Click hereIs My Land Suitable for Development?
Review the planning, location, access, environmental, infrastructure and delivery factors affecting land potential.
Click hereTypes of Planning Applications in England
Compare outline, full, reserved matters, permission in principle and other routes for seeking planning consent.
Click hereFrequently Asked Questions About the Housing Delivery Test
What is the Housing Delivery Test?
The Housing Delivery Test is a national measurement used in England to compare the net number of homes delivered in a plan-making authority area over the preceding three financial years with the number of homes required over the same period. The result is expressed as a percentage.
It is a backward-looking measure of delivery. It is not an assessment of how many deliverable housing sites the authority has for the next five years.
How is the Housing Delivery Test percentage calculated?
In simple terms, the total net homes delivered during the relevant measurement period are divided by the total homes required and multiplied by 100. The detailed government rule book determines which requirement figure and delivery data are used, including how particular forms of communal accommodation and joint plan areas are treated.
What happens when delivery is below 95%?
Where delivery falls below 95% of the requirement, the local planning authority should prepare an action plan. The action plan should examine the causes of under-delivery and identify practical measures intended to improve future housing delivery.
What happens when delivery is below 85%?
Where delivery falls below 85%, the authority should apply a 20% buffer to its identified supply of specific deliverable housing sites, as well as preparing an action plan. The buffer increases the amount of deliverable supply that must be demonstrated; it does not increase the underlying housing requirement itself.
What happens when delivery is below 75%?
Where delivery falls below 75%, the presumption in favour of sustainable development applies in accordance with national policy, together with the action plan and 20% buffer consequences. This can materially affect the planning balance, but it does not create automatic permission for every housing proposal.
Does a failed Housing Delivery Test mean my land will receive planning permission?
No. A poor result can increase the policy importance of delivering suitable housing, but the proposal must still be assessed against the development plan, national policy and all relevant site-specific matters. Access, flood risk, ecology, landscape, heritage, design, infrastructure and other constraints remain important.
Is the Housing Delivery Test the same as five-year housing land supply?
No. The Housing Delivery Test asks whether enough homes were delivered over the previous three years. Five-year housing land supply asks whether the authority can identify enough deliverable housing sites for the next five years. The two assessments can produce different outcomes and should be checked separately.
How long do Housing Delivery Test consequences remain in force?
The national policy consequences normally apply from the day after the annual results are published and continue until the next measurement supersedes them. Where a new housing requirement is adopted, the measurement may be recalculated in accordance with the rule book.
Can a 20% housing land supply buffer apply for another reason?
Yes. From 1 July 2026, national policy also provides for a 20% buffer in certain decision-making circumstances where a recently adopted requirement was examined against an earlier version of national policy and is substantially below the most up-to-date local housing need figure. A council's 20% buffer should therefore not automatically be assumed to arise from the Housing Delivery Test.
Does the Housing Delivery Test apply to every planning authority?
It applies to the relevant plan-making authority areas identified in national guidance, including non-metropolitan districts, metropolitan boroughs, London boroughs and qualifying development corporations. It does not apply in the same way to National Park Authorities, the Broads Authority or development corporations that do not exercise the relevant plan-making and decision-making functions.
Where can I find my council's Housing Delivery Test result?
The government publishes the results by relevant authority, and councils often repeat the result within their authority monitoring report, housing land supply statement or Housing Delivery Test action plan. Always check the current published measurement because an earlier result is superseded when new results take effect.
What should a landowner do after identifying an under-delivery result?
The next step is to review the council's five-year housing land supply, Local Plan status, action plan, housing trajectory and current site opportunities. The land itself must then be assessed for location, access, policy, environmental constraints, infrastructure, development capacity and deliverability before deciding whether a planning application or plan-promotion strategy is justified.