Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many English planning authorities do not have an adequate five year land supply.

The National Planning Policy Framework requires local planning authorities to identify a supply of deliverable sites sufficient to provide five years worth of housing against their housing requirements. Most areas produce an annual assessment of their position in five year land supply but this position may alter throughout the year as a result of market conditions and challenge at appeal.

The Housing White Paper included a proposal to offer greater certainty to local planning authorities, developers and communities by enabling authorities to consult with key stakeholders and agree their housing land supply with the Planning Inspectorate. This would then be fixed for a one-year period.