Released on 17 August 2026, the updates bring the measure of housing delivery across England's local authorities up to date for both 2023-24 and 2024-25, assessing performance over the preceding three years.

The results point to a continued deterioration in housing delivery. The number of local authorities subject to the presumption in favour of sustainable development has increased from 63 in 2023, to 87 in 2024 and 93 in 2025. This means that now nearly one in three (31%) of all local authorities in England are subject to the tilted balance when making planning decisions.

The reverse is also true: the proportion of local authorities passing the test has fallen from 65% in 2023 to just over half in 2025. Between 2023 and 2025, 28 local authorities moved from facing no consequences to being required to prepare an action plan, the largest shift in outcomes over the period. A further 15 local authorities are now subject to the presumption in favour in 2025 having faced no consequences in 2023. The broad trend towards greater penalties suggests that under-delivery relative to government targets is becoming widespread across England.

Unsurprising direction of travel

The direction of travel is unsurprising. A deterioration in up-to-date Local Plan coverage over the last two years has coincided with a decline in housing completions nationally. Additionally, between the 2023 and 2025 measurements, the total number of homes required across the rolling three-year assessment period increased by 17%, while the number of homes delivered fell by 4%. Local authorities are therefore being measured against rising housing requirements at a time when new housing completions are stagnant at best and falling in many areas.

The results also closely align with our 2024 HDT prediction as set out in our 2026 Planning Spotlight, where we correctly predicted the 2024 HDT consequence for 93% of local authorities.

The regional picture

London and the South East continue to have the highest proportions of local authorities subject to the presumption in favour. They have also seen the most growth in the proportion of local authorities facing the presumption in favour since 2023. In London, the share of local authorities subject to the presumption rose from 37% in 2023 to 65% in 2025, while in the South East it increased from 31% to 47%. The West Midlands has also seen significant growth, with the proportion of local authorities subject to the presumption in favour doubling from 13% to 27% over the same period.

While the Midlands and the North continue to have the highest proportion of local authorities passing the test (at 71% and 75%, respectively), both regions have seen deterioration since the 2023 HDT, when 78% of local authorities in both regions faced no consequence. However, part of the decline in the North reflects changes to local authority reporting following recent local government reorganisation.

For example, North Yorkshire was assessed separately for its seven predecessor local authorities in the 2023 test, all of which faced no consequence. In the 2025 HDT, North Yorkshire is assessed as a single authority under its new boundary and again faces no consequences. While the result (no consequence) remains the same, the new reporting structure has a smaller influence on the regional figures than when seven separate authorities each contributed a no-consequence result.

After accounting for this change in reporting, the overall picture in the North is largely unchanged between the 2023 and 2025 tests, with around 84% of local authorities retaining the same consequence category across both years.

Further information

Contact Evie Sargeant and David Bainbridge