Hampshire council area

Selling Land in Havant

Havant's new local plan provides for well under half the homes the government's method says the borough needs, and the council's own update shows 1.3 years of housing land. In a largely built-up borough hemmed in by Chichester Harbour and the setting of the South Downs, that gives real weight to well chosen land in and around Havant, Waterlooville and Emsworth.

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The Borough in Brief

Havant Borough Council covers Havant and Bedhampton, Leigh Park, Waterlooville with Cowplain, Purbrook and Widley, the harbour town of Emsworth, and Hayling Island, which is reached by a single road. The council's new plan describes the borough as largely urban, with few undeveloped or lightly developed areas left, and notes that almost half its residents live west of the A3(M).

80% in the Housing Delivery Test 2025. Above the 75% line, but under 85%, so a 20% buffer is added when the council works out its land supply.
A plan from 2011. The Core Strategy was adopted in March 2011 and the Allocations Plan in 2014. A first replacement was withdrawn in 2021 after the inspector raised concerns.
A new plan on the table. The Building a Better Future Plan was published for consultation in July 2026, with comments taken from 20 July to 9 September 2026.
1.3 years of housing land. That is the council's own figure in its December 2025 update, measured against a five-year requirement.

A council that openly plans for less than its need, and cannot show a land supply meanwhile, is in an unusual position, and it frames most of our conversations here.

Havant in Figures

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

Housing Delivery Test 2025
80%
Below 85%: a 20% buffer is added to its five-year housing land supply.
Homes built against homes needed
1,228
of 1,538 needed, April 2022 to March 2025
Most recent strategic plan adopted
March 2011
More than five years old, so its housing figures are usually replaced by the government's standard method.
New plan progress
Published for consultation
As at July 2026.

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 Plan That Cannot Meet the Need

The pre-submission plan runs to 2043. It records a need for 15,822 homes over that period under the 2024 standard method, or 879 a year, and provides for 7,087 net new homes, an average of 337 a year. The council states plainly that, under the strategy it has chosen, the standard method need is not met, although the need for employment land is.

The reasons are physical. Hayling Island is excluded from greenfield allocations because of the flood risk to its single road on and off the island, and much of the mainland is already built up. The plan leans instead on urban regeneration in Havant, Waterlooville and Leigh Park town centres, on further phases west of Waterlooville, and on a large greenfield allocation at Southleigh. It also notes that Portsmouth City Council is a major landowner in the borough, with several allocations on its land.

Area	What the pre-submission plan does
Southleigh, between Denvilles and Emsworth	Allocation 1, for around 2,100 homes with a primary school, a local centre and substantial open space.
West of Waterlooville	Allocates phases 4 and 8 of the major development area.
Havant, Waterlooville and Leigh Park centres	Regeneration sites on previously developed land in each town centre.
Hayling Island	No greenfield allocations, because of flood risk to the island's only access road.
Emsworth	Guided also by the Emsworth Neighbourhood Plan, which forms part of the development plan.

Why You May See 879 or 887 Homes a Year

The plan uses 879 homes a year, taken from the 2024 run of the standard method. The council's December 2025 land supply update uses 887, which it describes as the most recent calculation. The method is re-run as new affordability data is published, so small movements between documents are expected. Neither figure changes the picture for a landowner: both are far above the 337 a year the plan can find room for,.

The council says it has worked with its neighbours through the Partnership for South Hampshire, which has agreed a non-statutory position statement on meeting housing need across the area, and through individual statements of common ground with neighbouring councils.

What 1.3 Years of Supply Means for an Application

The December 2025 update covers 2025/26 to 2029/30. Against 887 homes a year plus a 20% buffer, it finds 1,401 deliverable homes, which is 1.3 years; without any buffer it would be 1.6 years. The buffer was set at 20% because the test then in force, the 2023 measurement published in December 2024, put Havant at 74%.

The Housing Delivery Test 2025 has since put the borough at 80%. That lifts Havant above the 75% line, so need is no longer treated as proven by the test result alone. Under policy S5 of the August 2026 national framework, a council's inability to show five years of deliverable sites is evidence of unmet need in its own right, and a site outside a settlement boundary that sits well against the built-up edge, and that local infrastructure can absorb, can rely on it.

Inside the built-up area the position is simpler. Policy S4 favours suitable development within settlements regardless of the housing figures, and in a borough this urban that covers a lot of land: yards, garages, older commercial buildings and deep back gardens with a workable access. Our page on brownfield land and yards explains how we look at them.

Why Delivery Fell Behind

The council's January 2025 action plan is candid about the causes. After the court ruling known as the Dutch case, it was unable to permit most housing for nearly 18 months, and nutrient neutrality, economic uncertainty and complex constraints on the remaining sites held delivery back afterwards.

Harbours, Birds and a Single Bridge

Most of the borough's constraints come from the water. The plan points to international and national nature designations along the coast, and says development is avoided on constrained sites, notably in the Chichester Harbour National Landscape and on Hayling Island.

Brent geese and waders. The plan carries a specific policy, Policy 26, for fields identified in the Solent Wader and Brent Goose Strategy, where overwintering birds feed and roost. Whether a field is on that network is one of the first things we check.
Nutrients. New homes must not add to nutrient pollution in the harbours. The council points to its award winning Warblington Farm initiative, and says its Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund will work across the wider catchment, with safeguards, so that homes in the borough can be supported by mitigation elsewhere in the catchment.
Hayling's access. The council's June 2026 infrastructure plan describes the A3023 bridge onto the island as vulnerable, and lists the Langstone flood defence scheme, costed at £17.98m and programmed for 2025 to 2027, to protect the island's access and nearby coastal communities.
Flood zones on the mainland. Land in Flood Zones 2 or 3 needs a site-specific flood assessment, and the sequential test applies. Our guide to flood risk and development land explains both.

None of these rules a site out unseen. Each calls for evidence before an application goes in, which we commission and pay for.

Southleigh and the East of the Borough

Bloor Homes, the council's preferred housebuilder for most of the land, submitted an outline application in summer 2026 under reference APP/26/00324. The council's infrastructure plan says the scale of the allocation requires a new three-form-entry primary school on at least 2.8 hectares, a three-form-entry expansion of Warblington School and around 234 early years places.

For owners of land nearby, a scheme of this size changes the setting. A new school, a local centre and open space can make an adjoining field relate far better to the town than it does today, while any later scheme close by will have to show how its traffic works alongside that of some 2,100 new homes.

The Next Twelve Months in Havant

Examination of the New Plan

The council expects to submit the Building a Better Future Plan for examination before the end of 2026. Its December 2025 Local Development Scheme ties that to the government's transitional arrangements, which require plans to be submitted by the end of the 2026 calendar year, and shows examination running into 2027, with dates still to be confirmed. At the hearings, the gap between 7,087 homes and a need of more than 15,000 is likely to be a central question, and the inspector's view of it will shape how much weight the plan carries once adopted.

The Next Housing Delivery Test

The Housing Delivery Test 2025 was published on 17 August 2026 and covers April 2022 to March 2025. At 80%, Havant keeps its 20% buffer. A fall below 75%, where the earlier result behind the December 2025 update sat, would make unmet need proven outright under policy S5. A rise to 85% or more would bring the buffer down to 5%, but the council's supply was 1.6 years even with no buffer at all, so a shortfall would remain on those figures.

Land Supply and the Southleigh Decision

The most recent supply update is dated December 2025. The Southleigh outline application is the other decision to watch: approval would add a large source of supply over many years, and whatever conditions the council attaches on roads and schools will set expectations for land nearby.

South East Hampshire, Withdrawn

On 25 March 2026 the government chose a South East Hampshire unitary council to replace Havant, Fareham, Gosport and Portsmouth from April 2028, with boundary changes at Newlands, Clanfield, Horndean and Rowlands Castle. It withdrew that decision on 7 September 2026, citing updated legal advice, and a review is now under way. Havant Borough Council stays in charge of planning here, and the May 2027 elections go ahead on today's boundaries.

What This Means for Timing

Now to submission. Applications are decided against the 2011 Core Strategy, the emerging plan's direction and national policy, with a supply well under five years.
During examination. The new plan gains weight as it progresses, which helps land that fits its strategy and asks more of land that does not.
After that. Who takes the next plan forward depends on the outcome of the government's review of reorganisation.

A site that already sits well against the built-up edge need not wait for any of these. Land that depends on a future allocation is best kept in front of the council through its ongoing call for sites. How it works explains how we handle each route.

Questions About Land in Havant

Havant is at 80%. Does my field on the edge of Waterlooville or Emsworth still have a chance?

It can. The result alone no longer proves unmet need, but with only 1.3 years of land in the council's own update, the S5 route to approval is still open on the supply evidence. A field that sits well against the built-up edge, with safe access and room for the drainage and bird mitigation, is worth a proper look.

I own land on Hayling Island. Is it worth asking?

For greenfield land, the prospects are limited: the new plan makes no greenfield allocations on the island because of flood risk to its only access road. Previously developed land and plots inside the built-up area can be a different matter, subject to flood risk, and we will tell you honestly which applies to yours.

My land is not in the Building a Better Future Plan. Is that the end of it?

No. Sites left out can still be argued before the inspector, and the council runs an ongoing call for sites. A site that already works on the ground can also go forward by application while the plan is examined.

I have a paddock near Southleigh. Does the big scheme help or hurt?

Often it helps, because a school, a local centre and new open space can make a neighbouring field relate better to the town. Any application near it needs strong transport evidence alongside the larger scheme, which we pay for. Our page on paddocks and small sites covers smaller parcels like yours.

Will reorganisation hold up decisions on my land?

No. The South East Hampshire decision was withdrawn in September 2026, and Havant Borough Council goes on deciding applications under its adopted plan and national policy. The review affects who may write later plans, not whether a sound application made now can be decided.

Tell Us About Your Land in Havant

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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.