Decision details

Matter for Decision:

i.         To agree 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.

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

 

Why the Decision had to be made (and any alternative options):

 

The Greater Cambridge housing trajectory is used by the Councils to calculate their housing land supply and to show anticipated housing delivery against their housing requirement in the adopted Local Plans. The housing trajectory and housing land supply calculations are required to be updated annually. The new five year period starts on 1 April 2025, and therefore calculations for this period (2025-2030) need to be agreed and published.

 

An alternative option would be to not publish the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Housing Land Supply Report. However, 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). A new housing trajectory is required to establish the Greater Cambridge housing land supply for the purposes of making planning decisions.

 

The Executive Councillor’s decision: That the Executive Councillor for Planning, Building Control and Infrastructure agrees:

i.         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.

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

 

Reason for the decision: The Greater Cambridge housing trajectory is used by the Councils to calculate their housing land supply and to show anticipated housing delivery against their housing requirement in the adopted Local Plans. The housing trajectory and housing land supply calculations are required to be updated annually. The new five year period starts on 1 April 2025, and therefore calculations for this period (2025-2030) need to be agreed and published.

 

Scrutiny Consideration: The Chair and Spokespersons of Planning and Transport Scrutiny Committee were consulted prior to the action being authorised.

 

Report: The Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Housing Land Supply Report (April 2025) is attached as Appendix 1.

Document ROD Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Housing Land Supply Report 2025 - Cambridge Council

 

Conflict of interest: None.

 

Comments: No comments received.

 

 

Briefing Paper

 

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 historic housing delivery.

 

The Greater Cambridge housing trajectory is used by Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council to calculate their housing land supply and also to show anticipated housing delivery against their housing requirement in the adopted Local Plans. The Councils have prepared the Greater Cambridge housing trajectory and five-year supply calculations based on national planning policy and guidance for housing trajectories, five-year supply calculations, and the standard method for calculating local housing need.

 

The housing land supply for Greater Cambridge has been calculated:

      i.         based on their local housing need (from the standard method, published by the Government in December 2024), as the adopted Local Plans are now more than five years old,

     ii.         jointly for Greater Cambridge, as set out in the adopted Local Plans, and

    iii.         with a 5% buffer, as set out in national planning policy.

 

The Greater Cambridge housing trajectory and housing land supply calculations show that jointly for Greater Cambridge, the Councils have 5.5 years of housing land supply for the 2025-2030 period. The Councils have taken a robust and conservative approach to assessing the deliverability and / or developability of each of the sites in the Greater Cambridge housing trajectory.

 

National planning policy and guidance sets out the circumstances where planning policies should be considered out of date when making decisions on planning applications, and this includes where the Council cannot demonstrate a five-year housing land supply. On the basis of the housing land supply calculations in the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Housing Land Supply Report (which is Appendix 1 of this decision), this does not apply to Cambridge or South Cambridgeshire, as the Councils jointly have 5.5 years of housing land supply.

 

The Cambridge Local Plan 2018 sets a housing requirement of 14,000 homes to be delivered between 2011 and 2031. The new housing trajectory shows that 14,202 dwellings are expected to be delivered in Cambridge between 2011 and 2031, based on current information on anticipated phasing and delivery of sites. The South Cambridgeshire Local Plan 2018 sets a housing requirement of 19,500 dwellings to be delivered between 2011 and 2031. The new housing trajectory shows that 24,096 dwellings are expected to be delivered in South Cambridgeshire between 2011 and 2031, based on current information on anticipated phasing and delivery of sites. Together the Local Plans set a housing requirement of 33,500 homes between 2011 and 2031 for Greater Cambridge. The new housing trajectory shows that 38,298 dwellings are expected to be delivered between 2011 and 2031. The Councils have already started preparing a new Greater Cambridge Local Plan, and as part of this the Councils are considering the appropriate level of housing need for Greater Cambridge, along with where development should be located and the specific sites to deliver new homes.

 

Once agreed by the Lead Cabinet Member for Planning at South Cambridgeshire District Council and the Executive Councillor for Planning, Building Control and Infrastructure at Cambridge City Council, the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Housing Land Supply document (April 2025) will be published on the Councils’ shared planning service website.