Purpose

Purpose

1.     The purpose of this report is:

a.     To agree the Addendum to the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Housing Land Supply Report (Appendix 1 of this decision) to be published on the Councils’ shared planning service website.

b.     To delegate any further minor editing changes to the Addendum to the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Housing Land Supply Report to the Joint Director for Planning where they are technical matters.

Addendum to the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Housing Land Supply Report

2.     National planning policy requires all local planning authorities with an adopted plan of more than five years old to identify and update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to deliver a minimum of five years’ worth of housing against their local housing need calculated using the standard method. National planning policy also sets out a requirement to provide a buffer of 5% or 20%, depending on the results from the Housing Delivery Test (HDT).

3.     The Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Housing Land Supply Report (April 2026) identified that together, as Greater Cambridge, the two planning authorities had 5.6 years of housing land supply for 2026-2031.

4.     Since the preparation and publication of the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Housing Land Supply Report (April 2026) (GC HT & HLS Report 2026), there have been several changes in circumstances that the Councils need to respond to as they affect the five year housing land supply calculations. These changes in circumstances are:

• publication of updated data sets relating to the calculation of the local housing need using the standard method,
• publication of the Housing Delivery Test (HDT) results
• publication of the new National Planning Policy Framework.

5.     The five year housing land supply requirement for Greater Cambridge included in the published GC HT & HLS Report 2026 was calculated using the annual local housing need (following the standard method) and using the latest available datasets at the time of its preparation. Updated dwelling stock estimates and affordability ratios have since been published, and the updated annual local housing need for Cambridge is 1,085 dwellings and the updated annual local housing need for South Cambridgeshire is 1,204 dwellings.

6.     On 17 August 2026, the HDT 2025 results (covering the period 2022-2025) were published. The result for Cambridge is 82% and the result for South Cambridgeshire is 148%. The consequences are a buffer of 20% to be applied to the housing land supply calculations for Cambridge and the preparation of an Action Plan, and no consequences for South Cambridgeshire.

7.     On 17 August 2026, a new National Planning Policy Framework was also published, which includes national decision-making policies. Any adopted Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire Local Plan 2018 policies that are materially inconsistent with national decision-making policies in the NPPF 2026 should be given very limited weight in decision making. Policy 3 of the Cambridge Local Plan 2018 and Policy S/12 of the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan 2018 (along with Policy S/5 of the South Cambridgeshire Local Plan) are considered to be materially inconsistent with NPPF Policy S5(1j) and NPPF Annex D. These are the policies in the adopted Local Plans 2018 that relate to the housing requirement and calculation of the five year housing land supply.

8.     In order to adopt a consistent approach to the monitoring of housing delivery in Greater Cambridge, the Councils will now calculate their five year housing land supply individually in accordance with Annex D of the NPPF 2026. This aligns with the approach that the Government has taken to calculating the HDT where it has published separate results for Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire, and is consistent with the NPPF 2026 and relevant guidance in the PPG.

9.     On the basis of the updated calculations in the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Housing Land Supply Report, Cambridge has 2.72 years of housing land supply for 2026-2031 and South Cambridgeshire has 7.83 years of housing land supply for 2026-2031. These figures will be applied when considering development proposals against the development plan and NPPF 2026 national decision-making policies.

Next Steps

Once agreed by the Lead Cabinet Member for Planning at South Cambridgeshire District Council and the Cabinet Member for Planning and Transport at Cambridge City Council, the Addendum to the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Housing Land Supply Report (September 2026) will be published on the Councils’ shared planning service website.

Decision

That the Lead Cabinet Member for Planning agrees:  

a.     the Addendum to the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Housing Land Supply Report (Appendix 1 of this decision) to be published on the Councils’ shared planning service website, and

b.     to delegate any further minor editing changes to the Addendum to the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Housing Land Supply Report to the Joint Director for Planning where they are technical matters.

Reasons for the decision

The GC HT & HLS Report 2026 is used by the Councils to demonstrate their five year housing land supply, and as there have been several changes in circumstances that the Councils need to respond to since its publication that affect the five year housing land supply calculations, it is necessary and appropriate for the Councils to publish an addendum to this report.

Alternative options considered

Option 1: To not publish the Addendum to the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Housing Land Supply Report.

Reason for Rejection: National planning policy and guidance requires all local planning authorities with an adopted plan of more than five years old to identify and update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to deliver a minimum of five years’ worth of housing against their local housing need (from the standard method), and with the application of the appropriate buffer. Since the preparation and publication of the GC HT & HLS Report 2026, there have been several changes in circumstances that the Councils need to respond to as they affect the five year housing land supply calculations.