Housing Delivery Test
The Housing Delivery Test (HDT) was introduced by Government as a way of monitoring whether a local planning authority is building enough homes to meet their housing requirement.
The HDT measures the number of new homes built over the previous three years against the authority's housing requirement. Local planning authorities (LPAs) are required to take appropriate actions where certain delivery target thresholds, set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), are not met.
- Where housing delivery has been less than 95% of the housing requirement, LPAs should prepare an action plan setting out the causes of under delivery and the intended actions to increase delivery
- Where delivery has been less than 85% of the housing requirement, a 20% buffer should be applied when calculating the five year housing land supply
- Where delivery has been less than 75% of the housing requirement, the NPPFs presumption in favour of sustainable development will apply
2022 Housing Delivery Test results published
The 2022 Housing Delivery Test results were published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) on 19 December 2023. The full table of results can be found on the DLUHC website.
Housing Delivery Test - Lewes District Council
Lewes (outside of the South Downs National Park) has an HDT result of 106%.
Download action plans
Lewes Housing Delivery Action Plan 2020 (PDF) [848KB]
Lewes Housing Delivery Action Plan 2019 (PDF) [705KB]
2018 Housing Delivery Test - Government Revised Figure for Lewes
In 2018, Lewes District Council issued legal proceedings against MHCLG (the former Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) after it published a Housing Delivery Test (HDT) result of 50% for Lewes. MHCLG's calculation had failed to recognise that the council has an up-to-date Local Plan (adopted within the last 5 years) and that the council had subsequently separated its housing requirement figure to exclude the South Downs National Park. The council challenged MHCLG on the published figure highlighting that there were unique circumstances requiring specific attention.
MHCLG considered the evidence presented to them by the council and concluded that the HDT figure should be revised, initially giving the council 83% but following further discussions gives 86%. You can download both MHCLG letters below.
Downloads
2018 Housing Delivery Test MHCLG Letter to Lewes October 2019 (PDF) [101KB]
2018 Housing Delivery Test MHCLG Letter to Lewes August 2019 - scanned copy (PDF) [107KB]
Housing Delivery Test - Eastbourne Borough Council
Eastbourne has an HDT result of 32%.
As a result of Eastbourne's HDT result, Eastbourne Borough Council has prepared a HDT action plan. The action plan provides an analysis of recent housing delivery, the key reasons for the past under-delivery and identifies measures the Council intends to implement to improve housing provision. You can download the Eastbourne HDT action plan below.
Download action plans
Eastbourne Housing Delivery Test Action Plan 2023 (PDF) [725KB]
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