Two-thirds of local authorities outside London are likely to find their development plans out of date owing to recent changes in national policy.
Data unveiled by the consultant Pegasus Group reveals that 66% of authorities outside the capital are likely to find that their most important policies will no longer be valid once they update their housing land supply assessments.
Around 40% of these authorities have updated their housing land supply assessments to take account of recent changes to national planning policy, including the new methodology for calculating housing need and the requirement to apply a buffer.
A total of 65% of authorities could have an insufficient supply of housing to meet minimum requirements over the next five years, rising to 66% when including authorities with a record of substantial under-delivery of homes.
The recently revised National Planning Policy Framework also maintains the requirement to consider development proposals more favourably where development plan policies are outdated. The analysis suggests that the most important development plan policies are obsolete and the presumption in favour of sustainable development will be engaged in 66% of authorities outside of London.
This is particularly pronounced in the West Midlands, the South East and the South West, where the presumption in favour of sustainable development is estimated to be engaged in 83%, 81% and 74% of authorities, respectively.
Neil Tiley, Pegasus' Senior Director of Economics, said: "Our analysis paints a pretty bleak picture as it underlines the extent to which minimum local housing needs are not being planned for or delivered nationally, and the challenge that the country faces in responding to the deepening housing crisis".
"To support the national growth agenda and meet the housing needs of communities which have not been addressed for decades, there is a desperate need to bring forward more housing, as supported by the recent changes to national policy".
"Notwithstanding this, it will be very challenging to release a sufficient supply of housing to fully address housing needs. New development plans will need to be prepared and adopted to fully meet housing needs, but in the interim housing will need to be approved notwithstanding a conflict with existing out-of-date development plans".
