Following publication of a Draft Plan (Regulation 18) consultation in 2024, West Northamptonshire Council confirmed at the Council’s Planning Agents & Developers’ forum held on 19th March 2025, that a further Draft Plan (Regulation 18) consultation for the new Local Plan will take place in October 2025, with a full set of development management policies and proposed site allocations. The Council’s Planning Policy Officers have previously stated that the Draft Plan might need to accommodate an additional circa 10,000 homes due to changes to the Local Housing Need (LHN), which have increased to 2,503 dwellings per annum, and that the plan period will need to be extended possibly by at least another two years (from 2041 to 2043).
North Northamptonshire is behind West Northamptonshire in terms of its new Local Plan timescales. The recent Local Development Scheme confirms that a Draft Plan (Regulation 18) consultation for the new Local Plan is now expected January–February 2026. North Northamptonshire’s LHN figures have marginally increased to 1,979 dwellings per annum.
Following the local elections on 1st May 2025, Reform UK have taken control of both Unitary Authorities and so time will tell whether a change in leadership from a previous Conservative stronghold will bring either progress or delay to the future preparation of Local Plans across the County.
Five-Year Land Supply
Both West Northamptonshire and North Northamptonshire continue to be able to currently demonstrate stable five-year housing land supply positions (with the exception of the Northampton within West Northamptonshire), with no clear and obvious route to the tilted balance under the presumption in favour of sustainable of development, at the present time.
Within both Authorities, however, there will likely be increasing short-term housing land supply pressures without timely progression of both committed allocations in adopted Plans and the identification of additional growth as part of the new Local Plans, which could possibly drive a continuation of speculative applications in some parts of the County.
At the current time, West Northamptonshire monitor on the basis of the former Districts – this will end in April 2026, five years after creation of the Unitary Authority, at which point they will need to report on a District-wide basis. North Northamptonshire already report on a District-wide basis.
