Council obtains legal advice suggesting it can depart from standard method for calculating housing need

East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) could see its housing target reduced from 1,142 to 828 new homes per year following legal advice supporting a departure from the standard method.

The local authority contends that targets for the area are too high and that the council is subject to greater housing pressures as half of its district is inside the South Downs National Park (SDNP) and therefore protected from development.

In the wake of the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in December 2024 and the accompanying Planning Practice Guidance (PPG), the council sought legal advice from Paul Brown KC  of Landmark Chambers on its position.

The advice, which was handed to the council in early March and made public this month (5 April), said: "The new PPG provides explicit support for the argument that, when calculating housing need for the purposes of its new Local Plan, EHDC is entitled to depart from the standard methodology by disaggregating the needs which arise within the parts of East Hampshire which lie inside SDNP from those which lie outside it."

He endorsed an approach where the housing need figure in the parts of East Hampshire which lie outside the SDNP "is derived by a simple pro-rata reduction from the standard method by reference to the proportions of housing stock which lie within and outside the SDNP".

He said such an approach would be "relatively easy to defend" at a Local Plan examination in public.

His advice suggested that EHDC's housing figures should drop from 1,142 to 828.

However, it also warned that the target may increase as national policy also requires the council to assist in meeting any unmet needs from neighbouring councils.

Brown said: "Disaggregating the need which arises in the SDNP may reduce EHDC's own need, but EHDC will still be expected to assist in meeting needs which, though they arise within the SDNP, cannot be met there."

In a statement detailing the legal advice, the council said the advice "confirmed that according to the Government's new planning policies there are exceptional circumstances in East Hampshire, something EHDC has long argued".

It added: "While this is a helpful step forwards, it's not a get out of jail card. EHDC, along with all planning authorities, must consider 'unmet needs' from neighbouring areas.  

The national park remains a highly protected area and is not required to meet its own housing needs. The SDNPA's emerging Local Plan is currently proposing that it doesn't, leaving EHDC to pick up unallocated homes outside the park."

Cllr Angela Glass, Portfolio Holder for Planning, welcomed the advice but said "there remains a lot of pressures" to deliver new homes in parts of East Hampshire outside of the national park.   

She added: "We now must work with the new planning policy and mandatory housing number.  However, we will continue to do all we can to press the Government on this issue and strive for the best outcomes from the development proposed."

Adam Carey