Selling Land in Newark and Sherwood

The same statement sets out net completions year by year. Over the twelve years since 2013/14 the district has averaged 562 net homes a year. The most recent five years were stronger:

That record comfortably beats the lower requirement the delivery test uses, which is why the result is 139%. Against 691 a year it looks different: none of the last three years reached it.

The supply also leans on a few large sites. Land north and east of Fernwood is expected to provide 515 homes in the five years and Fernwood Meadows South another 175, while Bowbridge Lane, part of Land South of Newark, adds 50 and Thoresby Colliery just 6. Land East of Newark, a strategic allocation with capacity for 1,000 homes, contributes none of them within the five years. The statement also warns that once the allocated sites are built, windfall development will make up a steadily growing share of supply.

The Amended Allocations and Development Management plan updates the 2013 allocations document. It was submitted in January 2024 and examined by an inspector, Hayden Baugh-Jones, at hearings in November 2024, with the main modifications consulted on from September to October 2025. Under the transitional arrangements it was examined against the September 2023 version of the national framework. The inspector's report of 6 August 2026 concludes that, with the main modifications it recommends, the plan is sound, and it is frank about housing. It notes that the Core Strategy passed its fifth anniversary in 2024, so supply is measured against the standard method: 691 homes a year, plus a 5% buffer of 35, or 3,628 over five years. The 2,784 deliverable homes fall short of that. The report then concludes that on adoption the plan will not provide a five-year supply, a situation it calls "far from ideal" but not a reason to find the plan unsound. It points to the four strategic sites the Core Strategy already allocates, the new local plan the council has started and expects to adopt in 2029, and a flexible approach under policies DM1 and DM2 that lets further housing sites come forward, alongside the Core Strategy's criteria for rural development.

The plan matters to landowners for four reasons:

• New lines on the map. It sets out amended urban boundaries and village envelopes, along with areas to be protected from development. Whether a field falls inside or outside a redrawn envelope decides whether S4 or S5 is the starting point.
• No new housing sites. The supply statement confirms the plan adds no new housing allocations, so the gap has to be met by applications and by the next plan.
• Site-level changes. Allocations that have been built out, such as sites in Collingham, Sutton-on-Trent and Southwell, are deleted. The inspector reverted the Southwell depot site to 15 homes over highway constraints, and recorded Petersmith Drive in Ollerton as under construction with permission for 305 homes. The affordable housing target stays at 30%, applied where a scheme has at least ten homes or its site covers at least 0.5 hectares.
• Gypsy and Traveller sites. The plan adds new Gypsy, Roma and Traveller policies and allocations. Against a need for 169 pitches from 2019 to 2033/34, the council has identified 145 to 157, which the inspector accepted because it exceeds the requirement for the first five years and the five after. The Old Stable Yard allocation north of Winthorpe Road is deleted, and the 76 pitches planned at Tolney Lane depend on a flood alleviation scheme coming first, since the Environment Agency does not support more permanent pitches there until one is in place.

The council's examination page for the plan set formal adoption for the Full Council meeting of 20 October 2026. Whenever it takes effect, the inspector's own finding is that adoption does not restore a five-year supply.

A New Plan and a Residual Need of 7,234 Homes

The council's district profile for the new plan sets 13,940 homes over 20 years against 7,535 homes with planning permission at April 2025. After an 11% allowance for permissions that lapse, it leaves a residual need of at least 7,234 homes to be found. The scoping document says the council believes it should develop a different spatial strategy from the current one, which sends most growth to the Newark urban area, and it records 196 sites put forward in the 2025 call for sites. It reopened the call alongside scoping, with submissions taken until 30 July 2026.

A Timetable Being Reset

The scoping document set out these stages:

The council's new local plan page explains that, with reorganisation paused and district elections now set for May 2027, Gateway 1 has moved to the end of October 2026. The council scheduled a report on Gateway 1, with an amended timetable, for its Cabinet meeting of 13 October 2026, so that consultations do not fall straight after new councillors take office. The later dates in the table are expected to move with it.

The Next Supply Statement and Delivery Test

The statement for 1 April 2025 appeared in February 2026, so one based on 1 April 2026 may take a similar time. It will show whether completions and new permissions have narrowed the gap against a need of close to 700 a year. The Housing Delivery Test 2025 came out on 17 August 2026; at 139%, the council is far from any of its consequences, so the delivery test is not what drives land decisions here.

What This Means for Timing

The period between the allocations plan's adoption and the new plan's adoption is when the supply shortfall does most work, since the council has no new allocations to point to. For well placed land outside the Green Belt, that argues for preparing an application now while also putting the land forward for the new plan. How long each route usually takes is set out in our guide on how long planning takes.