Selling Land in Oadby and Wigston

The Housing Implementation Strategy 2026, based at 31 March 2026, is the council's latest statement. It measures five years against 240 homes a year, saying "the current evidenced position in relation to 5-year supply is one of 240 dpa, as per the Regulation 19 emerging Local Plan":

Why the Yardstick Matters

The adopted plan dates from April 2019, so its housing policies are more than five years old. National policy says supply should then be measured against local housing need from the standard method, and the strategy quotes that rule itself before setting it aside in favour of 240. It records that the December 2024 change to the method lifted the borough's need from 189 to 384 homes a year, and that the figure stood at 388 at 31 March 2026. The plan and the inspectors use 389; the formula is rerun as new data is published, which most likely explains the small differences.

Five years at 388 a year comes to 1,940 homes before any buffer, which is more than the 1,729 the council counts. So the headline depends entirely on using a figure from a plan that is not yet adopted and whose requirement the inspectors are questioning. The council's case is that 240 is the evidenced position; an inspector deciding an appeal would start from national policy.

Completions Have Slowed

The supply of 1,729 homes works out at about 346 a year, close to three times the last two years' output. That may be achievable if large sites start together, but it is the kind of assumption an inspector tests site by site at appeal.

The Borough Has Been Here Before

In 2016 the Court of Appeal dismissed the council's challenge to an inspector's decision allowing up to 150 homes at Cottage Farm, Glen Road, Oadby. The council had argued for a need of 80 to 100 homes a year; the inspector assessed it at 147 and found a supply shortfall. Lord Justice Lindblom held that the inspector's approach was lawful, since an apportionment of need that had not been agreed or tested at examination did not bind him. National policy has changed a great deal since, but the lesson carries: a council's own lower figure is not the last word when an application is decided.

Where That Leaves Land Today

If a supply below five years were established, it would count under policy S5 of the August 2026 framework as evidence of unmet need, to be weighed rather than treated as an automatic finding. That would give land well related to a settlement's edge a route, provided roads, schools and drainage can cope. It is not the council's position today, and we say so plainly. What already applies across the three towns is policy S4, which covers plots, yards and redundant buildings inside Oadby, Wigston and South Wigston: approval is the starting point, and only harm that would substantially outweigh the benefits justifies saying no.

The borough sits at the heart of both questions hanging over the Leicester area. On housing, the December 2025 statement of common ground shares Leicester's remaining shortfall among the other districts, an annualised 458 homes a year in all, and gives none of it to Oadby and Wigston, on the assumption that the borough can just meet its own need. If the inspectors conclude the borough must plan for more than 240 a year, or if neighbours will not take its gap, that sharing may have to be revisited.

On governance, the government decided in July 2026 that from April 2028 the whole borough would join a new council covering Leicester, Oadby and Wigston and parts of Blaby, Charnwood and Harborough. The leader, Councillor Samia Haq, said the council was "extremely disappointed". In September the government paused the decision for a review, which the council welcomed, repeating that "we do not believe our borough's future lies as part of a Leicester city authority". For now the borough council decides applications and is taking its plan through examination.

Hearings From 3 November

The inspectors' hearing programme opens on 3 November with Matter 1, maintaining effective co-operation, then turns to Matter 2, housing need and requirement, which runs into 4 November and, if needed, 5 November, with 6 November in reserve. These sessions will test the 240 figure, the transport evidence behind it, site capacity and how fast the market can absorb new homes. What the inspectors say at the end of them is the most important signal for land in the borough this year.

A Revised Statement of Common Ground

The inspectors' July letter recorded that a revised statement on unmet need was being prepared for publication in September 2026, and they intend to explore it at a focused hearing session. It was not among the examination documents when the council last updated its examination page on 17 September. Whether the neighbouring councils agree to take the borough's gap of 2,533 homes goes a long way to deciding whether the plan can proceed with 240 a year.

Main Modifications and Adoption

On 16 September the council told the inspectors that "it is fully expected that the updated housing position will require main modifications" to the submitted plan. Changes to the requirement or to the allocations would show first in a schedule of modifications, published for comment before the inspectors report. Timing is tight as well: the inspectors noted that a plan ending in 2042 would need to be adopted by the end of March 2027 to look fifteen years ahead from adoption, as national policy expects.

The Next Delivery Test

The Housing Delivery Test 2025 was published on 17 August 2026, and a new one is due each year. At 152% the borough is well clear of every threshold. The next test drops 2022/23, the strongest year in the table above, and adds 2025/26, one of the weakest. Should the result slip under 95%, an action plan would follow; under 85%, a 20% buffer would be added whenever supply is worked out; and under 75%, unmet need would be treated as evidenced under policy S5.

What This Means for Timing

• Sites inside the towns can be looked at now under policy S4, whatever happens at the hearings.
• Edge land and land near a green wedge boundary is best prepared for the hearing outcome and any modifications.
• Not sure which applies? Our free review answers that first, and how it works shows the steps.