Hampshire council area
Selling Land in Hart
Hart has built more homes than its plan asked for since 2014, yet the council can no longer show five years of housing land. When its plan turned five in April 2025 the yardstick switched to the government's far higher figure, and its supply now stands at 2.07 years. The council's timetable puts the first consultation on a new plan to 2044 from 19 October to 30 November 2026.
- We pay for the planning, at our own cost and risk
- Your price is agreed up front, in writing
- If planning is refused, you keep your land and owe nothing
Fleet, Hook and Yateley Between the Heaths
Hart District Council is based in Fleet and covers about 215 square kilometres of north east Hampshire, home to around 103,000 people. Fleet is the main town, and the district also takes in Yateley, Blackwater and Hawley, Hook, Hartley Wintney, and Odiham with North Warnborough. The adopted plan treats its main population centres as part of a wider Blackwater Valley urban area shared with Farnborough, Aldershot, Camberley and Sandhurst, and trains call at Fleet, Winchfield, Hook and Blackwater.
- Ahead on delivery. The council built 1,216 homes against a requirement of 891 in the Housing Delivery Test 2025, a result of 137%.
- A plan now 6 years old. The Hart Local Plan (Strategy and Sites) 2032 was adopted in April 2020.
- Short of land. The council's latest statement finds 2.07 years of deliverable housing land at 1 April 2025.
- Protected heath close by. In the plan's own words, much of Hart lies within five kilometres of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area.
It is a prosperous place: the Halifax quality of life survey ranked Hart first in the UK five years running from 2011. What decides a site here is the heathland mitigation it can secure and, since 2025, a sharply changed supply position.
Hart in Figures
The government's latest figures for the council, its latest five-year housing land supply, and where its local plan stands.
Housing Delivery Test 2025
137%
Meeting its housing requirement.
Five-year housing land supply
2.07 years
Short of five years: national policy treats this as evidence of unmet housing need. Position at 1 April 2025, measured against the standard method, 771 homes a year from May 2025 (the plan figure of 423 for April 2025 only), plus a 5% buffer. Stated by Hart District Council.
Checked sourceHomes built against homes needed
1,216
of 891 needed, April 2022 to March 2025
Most recent strategic plan adopted
April 2020
More than five years old, so its housing figures are usually replaced by the government's standard method.
New plan progress
No recent stage listed
Check the council's website for its timetable.
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.
From 423 Homes a Year to 771
The adopted plan set a requirement of 423 homes a year from 2014 to 2032, made up of 382 for Hart's own needs and 41 towards Surrey Heath's unmet need. Hart beat it comfortably. The council's monitoring report for 2024/25 records an average of 525 homes a year from 2014 to 2025, 1,120 more than the plan required over that time.
Then the plan passed its fifth anniversary on 30 April 2025. From 1 May 2025 national policy measured supply against the standard method instead, which the December 2024 changes had raised to 750 homes a year and which later data put at 771. The supply statement at 1 April 2025 sets out the result:
| Step | Council's figure |
|---|---|
| First year | 742 homes: one month at the plan's 423 a year, eleven months at 771 |
| Years two to five | 3,084 homes, four years at 771 |
| Five-year requirement before buffer | 3,826 homes |
| With a 5% buffer | 4,017 homes, or 803 a year |
| Deliverable supply | 1,666 homes |
| Result | 2.07 years |
The gap is about 2,350 homes. The council accepts that on the plan's figure of 423 a year it would still have five years. Building has also slowed. Completions fell from 574 in 2022/23 to 434 and then 170 in 2024/25, the lowest year since the plan period began.
What a Shortfall Does for Land Outside the Settlements
Hart's adopted plan contains no Green Belt policy. Beyond the settlement boundaries, policy SS1 allows other housing only where it must be in the countryside, under policy NBE1, with rural exception schemes as a separate route. The shortfall changes how that is weighed. Policy S5 of the national framework, as revised in August 2026, treats a supply under five years as evidence that housing need is going unmet, opening a route for homes past a settlement boundary. It is not automatic: the site must read as part of the town or village next door, and local roads, schools and drainage need the capacity. Inside the boundaries of Fleet, Hook, Yateley and the other settlements, policy S4 applies instead, leaning towards approval and allowing refusal only where the harm would substantially outweigh the benefits. In Hart there is one more hurdle, which the next section explains.
SANG Decides Which Fields Can Be Built On
Policy SS1 makes the whole housing requirement subject to the availability of deliverable mitigation for the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area, and policy NBE3 of the adopted plan permits no housing at all within 400 metres of it. Further out, new homes within reach of the heaths need Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG): green space set aside for walking, so that new residents are drawn away from the protected heath. The supply statement even leaves out prior approvals that lack SANG, since they cannot lawfully be built.
The council publishes the capacity left in the SANGs it controls. Its statement at 1 October 2025 shows:
| Council SANG | Capacity left (people) |
|---|---|
| Bramshot Farm | 781 |
| Moulsham Lane, Yateley | 355 |
| Grove Farm, west of Fleet | 210 |
| Whitewater Meadows, north east of Hook | 50 |
| Hawley Park Farm (coming forward) | 1,668 |
| Albany Park North and Poulters Meadow (coming forward) | 1,476 |
After capacity already used or earmarked, the council puts what is available for Hart at 2,421 people across current and future SANGs. Private SANGs at Crookham Park, Riseley and Bassetts Mead in Hook hold further capacity of their own. A scheme of ten or more homes must sit inside the catchment of the SANG it relies on, and catchments vary with the size of the SANG.
So a field's distance from a SANG with room left can matter as much as its distance from the village shop. On a larger holding, part of the land can be laid out as SANG to serve homes on the rest. Even Hartland Village must provide SANG, which the plan allows off site only in a close, accessible location. Our page on farmland describes the holdings we look at.
One Allocation, a Deleted New Settlement and Shapley Heath
The 2020 plan allocated a single strategic site: Hartland Village, about 54 hectares of previously developed land east of Fleet, for around 1,500 homes with a primary school and a neighbourhood centre. Permission came in July 2018, 312 homes were finished by March 2025, and the supply statement counts 529 more within five years. The other large contributors are land north of Netherhouse Copse, allowed on appeal in 2017 and since extended to 528 homes, and Watery Lane at Church Crookham, now under construction.
The New Settlement the Inspector Removed
The council submitted its plan with a policy, SS3, for a new settlement in an area of search around Murrell Green and Winchfield. The inspector's report of February 2020 deleted it, finding that the sustainability appraisal had not tested reasonable alternatives, and that a significant parcel across the middle of the area was neither owned by nor available to those putting the scheme forward. The plan itself records a 230-home gap in its final year, left for a review to fill.
Shapley Heath
The council then ran its own garden community project, Shapley Heath. It was curtailed in November 2021 when government funding fell short of the level the council had been led to expect, and its ten baseline reports were kept for the plan review. It is not a live project.
Surrey Heath's five-year supply statement still reduces its own target by the 41 homes a year that Hart's plan takes on up to 2032.
Where the Parishes Have Drawn Their Own Lines
The monitoring report lists ten parishes with neighbourhood plans:
- Made before 2020: Rotherwick (December 2016), Winchfield (March 2017), Dogmersfield (September 2019), and Fleet and Hartley Wintney (both November 2019).
- Made since: Hook (February 2020), Crookham Village and Crondall (both May 2021) and Yateley (July 2022).
- Renewed: Winchfield's new plan (January 2024) and Odiham's update (April 2025).
Each can set its own policies on where new homes go; the adopted plan notes, for example, the local gap between Odiham and North Warnborough defined in theirs. A site that conflicts with one of these faces a harder argument, even with the shortfall.
The Land We Look for in Hart
- Fields that adjoin Fleet, Church Crookham, Hook, Yateley or Hartley Wintney and share a boundary with existing homes.
- Land more than 400 metres from the heaths, within the catchment of a SANG with room left.
- Larger holdings, typically 20 acres upwards, where some fields could be set aside as SANG for homes on the others.
- Former commercial or industrial land with lawful buildings or hardstanding.
- Sites within walking distance of Fleet, Hook or Winchfield station.
Heathland mitigation, ecology and access all have to be settled before an application, and we pay for that work in full. The option price is agreed at the outset, above the land's current value, and you carry on using the land. If permission is not secured, the land stays yours and you owe nothing. The how it works page walks through each step.
Hart With a Supply Gap and a Plan to 2044
The Plan's First Proposals, From 19 October
The council's plan timetable, updated on 23 September 2026, shows the Hart Local Plan 2044 moving at pace under the new plan-making system. A scoping consultation ran from 27 May to 19 June 2026, and the council published its Gateway 1 self-assessment on 23 September 2026. The stages ahead:
| Stage | Council's timetable |
|---|---|
| Consultation on proposed content | 19 October to 30 November 2026 |
| Consultation on the proposed plan | 3 September to 29 October 2027 |
| Submission and examination | 31 March to 31 August 2028 |
| Adoption | 31 October 2028 |
The call for sites stays open, and the council says land submitted by 5 June 2026 will appear in the land availability assessment published with the October consultation. The form has no closing date, so land can still be put forward for the stages that follow. For what happens at each stage, see our call for sites and local plans guide.
The Next Supply Statement
The statement at 1 April 2025 was published in December 2025, alongside the monitoring report. It still counted one month at the plan's figure; the next will rest on the standard method throughout. Until the 2044 plan allocates land, a well placed site keeps the weight a shortfall brings.
The Next Delivery Test
The Housing Delivery Test 2025 came out on 17 August 2026, and a new edition follows each year. At 137%, Hart faces none of the test's consequences. The next window loses 2022/23, when 574 homes were built, and gains 2025/26. We will not guess the score, but a result below 95% would call for an action plan, and below 85% would add a 20% buffer to a supply already well short.
Reorganisation Set Aside
In March 2026 the government decided that Hart, Rushmoor and Basingstoke and Deane should merge into a North Hampshire council from 1 April 2028. Fresh legal advice led ministers to withdraw it on 7 September 2026, and the May 2027 elections will be held on existing boundaries. Hart remains the council writing its plan.
What This Means for Timing
- Land that sits well against a town or village, with SANG in reach, can be looked at for an application now, while the shortfall carries weight.
- Larger or more open land is better aimed at the October 2026 consultation and the proposed plan in 2027.
- Not sure which applies? Our free review starts there.
Questions About Land in Hart
Hart builds more homes than it was asked to. Why is it short of land?
Because the yardstick changed. Once the plan was five years old, supply was measured against the government's standard method, 771 homes a year, rather than the plan's 423, while completions fell away in 2024/25.
My field is near Fleet but close to the heaths. Can it take houses?
The adopted plan permits no housing within 400 metres of the protected heath. Further out, it depends on securing SANG with room left, in the right catchment, or providing it on part of your own land. We check that first.
Is Shapley Heath coming back?
Nothing is proposed today. Its studies were kept for the plan review, so a new settlement can be weighed again as the 2044 plan takes shape.
My parish has a neighbourhood plan. Does that stop an application?
Not by itself, but it matters. A neighbourhood plan is part of the development plan, so its policies on where homes go count in every decision, and a site that fits them has a far easier path. We read your parish's plan before advising.
My land missed the 5 June 2026 cut-off for the call for sites. Have I lost my chance?
No. The council's form is still open, so land can still be put forward for the stages that follow. A site with its evidence ready before the proposed plan stage in 2027 is well placed, and we pay for that evidence where we take a site on.
Tell Us About Your Land in Hart
It takes about two minutes. We only need your postcode, your name and a phone number or email; the rest helps us look properly. We reply within 2 working days, in confidence.
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Selling Land in Rushmoor
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Selling Land in Winchester
Selling land in Winchester? We agree your price up front and pay for all the planning. If planning fails, you keep your land and owe nothing.
Sources
- Hart District Council: Five-Year Housing Land Supply Position Statement at 1 April 2025 (December 2025)
- Hart District Council: Authority Monitoring Report 2024/25 (December 2025)
- Hart District Council: Hart Local Plan (Strategy and Sites) 2032 (adopted April 2020)
- Planning Inspectorate: Report on the examination of the Hart Local Plan (February 2020)
- Hart District Council: SANG capacity in Hart, at 1 October 2025
- Hart District Council: Local Plan timetable (September 2026)
- Hart District Council: Call for sites
- Hart District Council: Shapley Heath audit review (July 2022)
- Surrey Heath Borough Council: Five Year Land Supply Statement, SLAA 2025 Appendix 10 (base date 1 April 2025)
- Hampshire County Council: Government announces new model for councils across Hampshire and the Solent area (March 2026)
- GOV.UK: Review of local government reorganisation launched (7 September 2026)
- Wikipedia: Hart District
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.