Housing supply (Worthing)

Worthing Five Year Housing Land Supply

Interim position statement: Worthing Five Year Housing Land Supply as at 1st April 2024

The council publishes its Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) each year around the month of December. The key purpose of the council's AMR is to share performance and achievements of the planning service with the local community. The AMR also provides the opportunity to monitor the effectiveness of the Local Plan. It also contains information relating to housing delivery and Worthing's five-year housing land supply.

Worthing's new Local Plan was adopted on 28th March 2023 and the next iteration of the AMR will have to consider how effective the policies and strategies of the new Plan have been since its adoption.

The current National Planning Policy Framework (2023) states at para 75:

“Local planning authorities are not required to identify and update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide a minimum of five years' worth of housing for decision-making purposes if the following criteria are met:

a. their adopted plan is less than five years old; and

b. that adopted plan identified at least a five-year supply of specific, deliverable sites at the time that its examination concluded.”

The new Local Plan is clearly less than five years old. The Local Plan inspector stated in his report at para 183:

“I am satisfied that there is a reasonable prospect of a five-year supply of deliverable housing sites on adoption and the policies and allocations of the Plan will be effective in ensuring the housing requirement will be met.”

Therefore, under current national policy the council is not required to:

“Identify and update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide a minimum of five years' worth of housing for decision-making purposes.”

However, in light of the upcoming Chatsmore Farm Public Inquiry and in advance of the full Annual Monitoring Report the council is publishing this interim five Year Housing Land Supply statement setting out the five-year housing land supply position as at 1st April 2024.