Hampshire council area

Selling Land in Eastleigh

Eastleigh adopted its local plan in April 2022, yet the plan began with a shortfall after the inspector struck out its largest proposed site, and the council now reports 4.2 years of housing land. Its new plan to 2044 has only just started. That gives well placed land a real case today.

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Eastleigh at a Glance

Eastleigh Borough Council covers a compact, busy stretch of south Hampshire between Southampton, Southampton Water and the River Hamble. Its adopted plan ranks Eastleigh as the main town, Chandler's Ford and Hedge End as large towns, and Bishopstoke, Botley, Bursledon, Fair Oak, Hamble, Netley Abbey and West End as larger villages, with Allbrook, Boorley Green, Butlocks Heath and Horton Heath below them. The council's own issues paper puts the borough at 79.8 square kilometres with about 136,500 people.

94% in the Housing Delivery Test 2025. Clear of the thresholds at 75% and 85% but short of 95%, which means an action plan to raise the rate of building.
A plan adopted in April 2022. The Eastleigh Borough Local Plan 2016 to 2036 is 4 years old and still sets the housing figure the council works to.
4.2 years of supply. The council's January 2026 statement, with a base date of 1 April 2025, says it cannot show a five-year supply.
Nine settlement gaps. Policy S6 keeps open the land between places such as Eastleigh and Bishopstoke, Fair Oak and Horton Heath, and Hedge End and Botley.
Rail and air links. The plan names Eastleigh and Southampton Airport Parkway stations on the main line, and treats Southampton Airport as one of three gateways to the sub-region.

Much of the open land here sits in a settlement gap or near a protected river, yet the council is short of deliverable sites all the same.

Eastleigh in Figures

The government's latest figures for the council, and where its local plan stands.

Housing Delivery Test 2025
94%
Below 95%: the council must publish an action plan to improve delivery.
Homes built against homes needed
1,854
of 1,983 needed, April 2022 to March 2025
Most recent strategic plan adopted
April 2022
The plan currently used to decide applications.
New plan progress
Updated
New Local Plan to 2044 started June 2026; scoping consultation closed 24 September 2026
Checked source

Sources: Housing Delivery Test: 2025 measurement, MHCLG, published 17 August 2026; Local plans: monitoring progress, Planning Inspectorate, August 2026. Local plans move quickly, so always check the council's own website for the latest position.

A Recent Plan That Started Short

The adopted plan sets a minimum of 14,580 new homes from 2016 to 2036. It was meant to include a large new community north of Bishopstoke and Fair Oak, but the inspector recommended deleting that Strategic Growth Option, leaving a shortfall of 2,614 homes. The plan itself therefore committed the council to begin updating it within a year of adoption.

The large allocations that did survive are still being built, and the council's supply statement shows how they have moved on since the plan was written:

Site	In the 2022 plan	In the January 2026 supply statement
Horton Heath	About 1,500 homes	Full permission for 381 homes, then outline permission in October 2025 for 2,119 more
Stoneham Park	About 1,150 homes	A scheme of 1,074, with 151 left to build at April 2025 and the final phase due in 2026/27
Boorley Green	About 2,080 homes across two allocations	Three linked sites totalling 2,077, with most of the remainder at Boorley Gardens
Botley	375 homes	Outline permission from March 2022, with first homes expected in 2028/29

Why Horton Heath Looks Bigger Than the Plan

The plan shows Horton Heath at about 1,500 homes; the supply statement adds up to about 2,500. The first is what the council allocated in 2022, the second the permissions since granted, which is what now counts towards supply. For a neighbouring landowner the later figure matters more, because it sets the roads, school places and drainage that will exist around the site.

The Supply Shortfall and the Settlement Gaps

Under the August 2026 National Planning Policy Framework, policy S5 supports homes beyond a settlement where unmet housing need is evidenced, the land is physically well related to the place beside it, and the infrastructure can cope. Eastleigh's delivery score alone does not establish that need, because it is above 75%. Its supply does. The January 2026 statement measures 3,181 deliverable homes against 3,827 needed over five years, a gap of 646, using the adopted plan's 729 homes a year plus a 5% buffer. National policy accepts a shortfall of that kind as evidence of unmet need.

The settlement gaps are the main counterweight. They are a local plan policy, not Green Belt, so any harm to one is set in the balance against the homes the borough lacks, instead of counting as an outright bar. A field at the narrowest point between Hedge End and Botley is a very different case from one already enclosed by roads and housing at the edge of a gap.

How We Test an Eastleigh Field

Which gap, if any. We map the land against the nine gaps in policy S6 and judge how much openness would remain between the two places.
The edge it meets. A site has to read as part of Fair Oak, Bursledon or West End, not as a separate outpost, with safe access onto a road that can take it.
The river it drains to. That decides whether nitrogen, phosphorus or both need mitigating, and how much land the solution takes.
Flooding. We check the Itchen, Hamble and Monks Brook valleys and any surface water routes across the site, as the flood risk guide explains.

Rivers, Nutrients and the Solent

Phosphorus for the Itchen. The council's interim strategy of July 2022 applies phosphorus neutrality in the River Itchen catchment, covering parts of Eastleigh, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and reaching out to Horton Heath and West End, and to homes in Chandler's Ford and Eastleigh served by the Chickenhall treatment works, which discharges to the river.
Nitrogen for the Solent. The council has run a nitrogen neutrality scheme since 2020 for the Solent's protected waterways and coast.
Council credits. The 2022 strategy offered phosphate credits from council-owned land taken out of farming, alongside mitigation designed into a site's own drainage.
Recreational pressure. The issues paper lists visitor disturbance of the Solent's protected sites among the borough's constraints.
The South Downs. The issues paper also notes that the National Park adjoins the borough.

These costs come out of the value of a scheme. They are part of the planning work we commission and pay for, and on a larger holding some of the land can supply the mitigation for homes on the rest.

Where the Next Homes Could Go

The Issues and Options paper, consulted on from 4 December 2024 to 29 January 2025, put the new plan's housing need at 645 homes a year under the old standard method or 902 under the proposed new one, about 12,900 to 18,040 homes over twenty years. Around 6,308 were already accounted for by permissions and allocations, leaving 6,590 to 11,730 to find. It also asked whether Eastleigh should help meet needs from the wider Southampton housing market that are unlikely to be met where they arise. Four strategic options were set out:

Option	Homes if fully built	What the paper noted
A: north east of Fair Oak	About 4,600	Close to the village centre, on lower grade farmland
B: south of Bishopstoke	About 2,800	Only around half the landowners in support
C: north of West End	About 4,600	Poor public transport, medium grade farmland
D: north of Hedge End	About 1,300	The best rail access, on higher grade farmland

Alongside them sit more than 50 small and medium site options. The council has stressed that all of these were put forward by landowners and developers and are not its own proposals. Its June 2026 consultation report records around 670 responses, the most objections to option A, and concern about cumulative growth in Fair Oak, Horton Heath and Boorley Green. It also records smaller sites as important for delivery. Our page on paddocks and small sites covers what makes a modest plot work.

The Next Twelve Months in Eastleigh

The Housing Delivery Test

The government publishes the test each year. The Housing Delivery Test 2025 came out on 17 August 2026 and covers April 2022 to March 2025. In the 2023 measurement, which the council's January 2026 statement quoted, Eastleigh scored 122%, so the action plan is new territory for it. A fall below 85% in the next result would add a 20% buffer to the supply calculation. A fall below 75% would treat unmet need as established outright. Reaching 95% would remove the need for an action plan, though on its own it would leave the supply shortfall untouched.

The Supply Figure and April 2027

The January 2026 statement measures supply against the adopted plan's 729 homes a year. National policy switches to the government's standard method once a plan is more than five years old, and Eastleigh's reaches that point in April 2027, two years before the new plan is due. The issues paper put the proposed new method at 902 homes a year, so on the council's own numbers the bar would rise. We are not predicting the next supply figure.

The Plan Timetable

The council restarted its plan under the new national system in June 2026, describing it as a change of process rather than a fresh start. Its published timetable shows:

Scoping consultation from 20 August to 24 September 2026.
A Gateway 1 self-assessment on 29 October 2026.
Consultation on the proposed plan content, including preferred sites, from 3 June to 15 July 2027.
Consultation on the full plan from 1 June to 27 July 2028, submission on 26 October 2028 and adoption on 26 April 2029.

The Southampton Merger, Withdrawn

A government decision of 25 March 2026 would have combined Eastleigh and Southampton in a South West Hampshire unitary council from 1 April 2028. That decision was withdrawn on 7 September 2026 while ministers review the process. The plan is being prepared for the current borough, Eastleigh still decides applications, and the May 2027 local elections take place on existing boundaries.

What This Means for Timing

Preferred sites will not be published until mid 2027, and adoption is set for 2029. Land that already works on its own merits is usually better put forward by application now, while the supply shortfall stands, with the plan as a parallel route. Our agreements continue while any application or appeal is being decided, and option and promotion agreements compared sets out how the two models differ.

Questions From Eastleigh Landowners

The plan is only from 2022. Can an application on unallocated land really succeed?

It can, where the site is right. The council's own statement shows 4.2 years of supply, and national policy treats that shortfall as evidence of unmet need. The plan being recent does not change that, although the gaps and the river rules still have to be met.

My land sits in one of the strategic options. Should I wait for the council to choose?

Not necessarily. Preferred sites are not due for consultation until mid 2027. Depending on the field, an application now or a submission to the plan may be the better route, and we will say which we recommend.

Does phosphorus neutrality apply to my land?

Only if its waste water would reach the River Itchen, which covers parts of Eastleigh, Bishopstoke, Fair Oak, Horton Heath and West End and homes served by Chickenhall. Nitrogen for the Solent applies more widely. We identify both in our first review.

Is my field in a settlement gap worth looking at?

Sometimes. A gap is weighed against housing need rather than treated as a ban, and a field already contained by roads or housing can keep the gap working. Land at the narrowest point between two places is much harder.

Is Eastleigh still merging with Southampton?

Not on the current timetable. The government withdrew the merger decision in September 2026 and is reviewing reorganisation, so Eastleigh keeps deciding applications and its plan is still being written for the current area. You keep using the land throughout. Our Hampshire page shows how the other councils in the county compare.

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Sources

Figures on this page come from the Housing Delivery Test 2025 (published 17 August 2026) and the Planning Inspectorate's local plan monitoring to August 2026, with newer plan milestones checked on 24 September 2026. We update the page when new results or plan milestones are published. Planning positions change quickly, so always check the council's own website before relying on it.