Purpose

Purpose
 
1.   
The purpose of this report is:

a.   
To agree the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory
and Five Year Housing Land Supply Report
(Appendix 1 of this decision) to be published on the
Councils’ shared planning service website. The Greater
Cambridge housing trajectory and five
year housing land supply calculations have been prepared
jointly with Cambridge City Council, consistent with the adopted
Local Plans.

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

 
Greater Cambridge
Housing Trajectory and Five
Year Housing Land Supply
 
2.   
The government through national planning policy
requires that all local planning authorities identify sufficient
deliverable sites to deliver a minimum of five years worth of housing
against their housing requirement, as set out in their Local Plans.
The housing trajectory and five year
supply calculations are required to be updated annually. The
Greater Cambridge housing trajectory is used by Cambridge City
Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council to calculate
their five-year housing land supply and
also to demonstrate that anticipated housing delivery will
meet or exceed their housing requirement.
 
3.   
The Councils have prepared the Greater Cambridge
housing trajectory and five-year supply calculations based on
national planning policy and guidance for housing trajectories and
five-year supply calculations.

 
4.   
The five year housing
land supply for Greater Cambridge has been
calculated:
a.   
based on the housing requirements set out in the
adopted Local Plans, as they are less than five years
old,
b.   
jointly for Greater Cambridge, as set out in the
adopted Local Plans,
c.    
using the Liverpool methodology, as set out in the
adopted Local Plans, and
d.   
by applying a 5% buffer, as set out in national
planning policy.
 
5.   
The Greater Cambridge housing
trajectory and five-year housing land supply calculations show that
jointly for Greater Cambridge, the Councils can demonstrate a
five-year housing land supply, using the Liverpool methodology and
5% buffer. The Councils jointly have 6.2 years of housing land
supply for the 2023-2028 five-year 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.
 
6.   
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 five
year supply calculations in the Greater
Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five Year Housing Land Supply
Report (which is Appendix 1 of this decision), this does not
apply to Cambridge or South Cambridgeshire, as the Councils can
demonstrate a five year supply.
 
7.   
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 14,199 dwellings are expected
to be delivered in Cambridge between 2011 and 2031. 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 23,516 dwellings are expected to be delivered
in South Cambridgeshire between 2011 and 2031.
Therefore, 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 37,715 dwellings are expected to be delivered between
2011 and 2031. The Greater Cambridge housing trajectory shows that
anticipated housing delivery within each Council’s area is
more than its respective housing
requirement.
 
Next Steps
 
8.   
Once agreed by Lead Member for Planning at South
Cambridgeshire District Council and the Executive Member for
Planning Policy and Transport at Cambridge City Council, the
Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five
Year Housing Land Supply document (April 2023) will be
published on the Councils’ shared planning service
website.

Content

That the Lead Member
for Planning Policy and Delivery agrees:
 
a.   
the Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and
Five Year 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
Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five
Year Housing Land Supply Report to the Joint Director for
Planning and Economic Development where they are technical
matters.

Reasons for the decision

The
Greater Cambridge housing trajectory is used by the Councils to
calculate their five-year housing land supply and to demonstrate
that anticipated housing delivery will meet or exceed the housing
requirements set out in their Local Plans. The housing trajectory and five year
supply calculations are required to be updated annually.
 
The new
five year period started on 1 April
2023, and therefore calculations for this period (2023-2028) need
to be agreed and published.

Alternative options considered

To not publish the
Greater Cambridge Housing Trajectory and Five Year Housing Land
Supply Report.
 
Reason
for Rejection: National planning policy and guidance requires that
a local planning authority should identify and annually update
their five year supply of specific deliverable housing sites. A new
housing trajectory is required to establish the Greater Cambridge
five-year housing land supply for the purposes of making planning
decisions.