The Planning Committee of Kingston upon Hull Council was scheduled to meet on Tuesday 20 October 2026 to consider the city's housing land availability. The primary item on the agenda was the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment 2026, which provides an evidence base for future planning policy and informs development management decisions.

Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment 2026

The committee was scheduled to consider the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) 2026. This assessment is a requirement of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and aims to identify land available for development, particularly housing, to support the creation of the new Hull Local Plan. The SHLAA 2026 identifies the city's housing land supply position as of 1 April 2026.

The report presented to the committee was scheduled to detail Hull's current housing supply, including the level of deliverable housing supply. It was also intended to inform the production of the new Hull Local Plan, which will guide development in the city up to 2045. The SHLAA process involves assessing sites for their availability, suitability, and likely economic viability to meet the identified housing need over the plan period.

The NPPF requires local planning authorities to maintain a clear understanding of land available for development and to identify and update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide a minimum of five years' worth of housing. For Hull, where the development plan housing requirement is more than five years old, the Government's Standard Method for calculating Local Housing Need (LHN) is used. The SHLAA 2026 was scheduled to outline Hull's LHN, which identifies a requirement of 1,002 dwellings per annum, and to include a 5% buffer in its five-year housing supply calculation.

The report was also scheduled to include information on the Brownfield Land Register (BLR), which identifies previously developed sites suitable for housing-led development. The SHLAA methodology, which guides how site information is collected and assessed, was also to be referenced. The report was expected to detail housing delivery within the Hull Local Plan period from 2016 to 2026, and project housing supply from 2026 to 2036.

The recommendations within the report were for members to approve the SHLAA 2026 as part of the Planning Service's evidence base and to authorise the Planning Policy and Delivery Manager, in consultation with the Chair of the Planning Committee, to make any minor drafting changes prior to publication. The report stated that rejecting the SHLAA 2026 would be contrary to NPPF requirements.

The SHLAA is a factual record of housing delivery and supply, and its information is fundamental to strategic planning policy. It is also of value in determining planning applications and appeals, and in monitoring housing development delivery. The assessment was also noted to contribute to the Council Plan's ambition for Safe and welcoming neighbourhoods with good housing.

The report indicated that an Equality Impact Analysis Screening Tool had been undertaken, concluding that a full Equality Impact Analysis was not required for this report, as it was not considered to have a disproportionate impact on any protected characteristics.