Alongside the new National Planning Policy Framework, the results of the 2024 and 2025 Housing Delivery test have now been published. These consider housing delivery in the three years between April 2021 and March 2024, and April 2022 and March 2025 respectively, set against the total number of homes required over the same period.
Nearly a third of authorities are now subject to the presumption in favour of sustainable development in the 2025 HDT, a sharp increase from 20% in the 2023 release.
As our interactive map shows, the number of authorities 'failing the test' (i.e. being subject to some form of consequence) has risen markedly over the last three years, from 35% in 2023 to 49% in 2025. This includes 12% of authorities which will need to prepare an action plan setting out actions to increase future delivery, and 6% now facing the application of a 20% buffer to the assessment of housing land supply – likely to further increase the number of authorities that will now be subject to the presumption in favour of sustainable development, albeit many of these areas will not be able to demonstrate a five year land supply in any event.
There is a strong geographical pattern to 2025’s HDT results. The North West fares best, with fewer than 20% of its authorities failing the HDT. In both the South West and the South East over two thirds of authorities score below 100%, though half of authorities in the South East are subject to presumption in favour of sustainable development, compared with 28% of South West authorities, due to the HDT. London fares worst, with only five of the 32 boroughs passing the HDT, and nearly two-thirds subject to the presumption as a result.
