Warwickshire council area
Selling Land in Stratford-on-Avon
Stratford-on-Avon has built well ahead of the target in its 2016 Core Strategy, yet measured against the government's figure of 1,112 homes a year it can show only 2.21 years of housing land. The council now treats its restrictive countryside housing policy as out of date, and a cross-party group of its councillors has set the target of showing five years again by summer 2027.
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Market Towns, Large Villages and a Corner of the Cotswolds
Stratford-on-Avon District Council, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, covers a mainly rural area of about 979 square kilometres in Warwickshire, home to an estimated 146,258 people. Beyond the town itself, it takes in Alcester, Henley-in-Arden, Shipston-on-Stour and Southam, the large villages of Bidford-on-Avon, Studley and Wellesbourne, and part of the Cotswolds National Landscape. Growth here is spread widely: of the homes finished in 2024/25, 246 were in Stratford-upon-Avon itself and 350 on the new settlements, with the rest spread across the market towns, villages and countryside.
- Well ahead on delivery. The council built 3,402 homes against a requirement of 1,686 in the Housing Delivery Test 2025, a result of 202%.
- A plan 10 years old. The Core Strategy, adopted in July 2016, runs from 2011 to 2031 and planned for 14,600 homes.
- Short of land all the same. The council's latest calculation finds 2.21 years of deliverable housing land at 31 March 2025.
- A joint plan at an advanced stage. The South Warwickshire Local Plan, prepared with Warwick District Council, was published for consultation in July 2026.
By March 2025 the district had completed 13,365 homes since 2011, according to the council's monitoring report for 2024/25, which also records 379 affordable homes in the last of those years, 41.9% of everything finished. What changed is the measuring stick, and with it the way the council handles applications.
Stratford-on-Avon 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
202%
Meeting its housing requirement.
Five-year housing land supply
2.21 years
Short of five years: national policy treats this as evidence of unmet housing need. Position at 31 March 2025, measured against the standard method, 1,112 homes a year, plus a 5% buffer. Stated by Stratford-on-Avon District Council.
Checked sourceHomes built against homes needed
3,402
of 1,686 needed, April 2022 to March 2025
Most recent strategic plan adopted
July 2016
More than five years old, so its housing figures are usually replaced by the government's standard method.
New plan progress
Updated
South Warwickshire Local Plan: final consultation closed 8 September 2026; submission due by 31 December 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.
From 730 Homes a Year to 1,112: The Supply Sum
The Core Strategy asks for 730 homes a year. When the government revised its standard method in December 2024, the district's figure more than doubled, from 553 to 1,126 homes a year, later settling at 1,112. A review in 2021 had found the plan's housing figure still sound, but the council accepts that a rise of more than 100% is a significant change, so from April 2025 it measures supply against the government's figure rather than the plan's. Its calculation at 31 March 2025 sets out the result:
| Part of the calculation | Council's figure |
|---|---|
| Yearly requirement | 1,112 homes, the May 2025 standard method figure |
| Five years of it | 5,560 homes |
| Buffer | 5%, taking the total to 5,838 homes (about 1,168 a year) |
| Deliverable sites with permission | 2,188 homes |
| Older people's residential institutions | 59 homes (112 bedspaces, counted at 1.9 per home) |
| Small site windfall | 330 homes, 165 a year in years four and five only |
| Deliverable supply in total | 2,577 homes |
| Result | 2.21 years, a gap of 3,261 homes |
Of the homes with permission, 1,171 were already under construction at the base date, and 460 sit on two large sites with outline permission, for which the council sets out its evidence that building will start in time. The small site allowance rests on a falling trend: sites of one to nine homes produced 245 completions in 2019/20 but only 126 in 2024/25, so the council cuts the seven-year average of 173.6 by 5% and counts nothing from unknown small sites in the first three years.
None of the joint plan's proposed sites is counted. Building has also slowed. Completions peaked at 1,574 in 2021/22, then fell to 1,431, 1,011 and 903 in 2024/25, the lowest since 2020/21.
The Appeal at Bordon Hill
The council tested an earlier figure and lost. At a July 2025 inquiry into Gladman Developments' appeal for up to 130 homes on horse-grazed land at Bordon Hill, on the western edge of Stratford-upon-Avon, it argued for 5.06 years, a surplus of 41 homes. The field carries the name of an orchard, though the inspector saw little sign of one. The inspector found no clear evidence that several sites would deliver within five years, among them phases at Gaydon and Lighthorne Heath and homes at Long Marston Airfield, and put supply at 2.74 years, a shortfall of about 2,285 homes. Taking out 584 homes on the disputed sites alone cut the council's own figure to 4.23 years. The council had also asked to deduct 2,124 homes built ahead of the Core Strategy; the inspector would allow that at most for the first year, holding that past over-delivery should not offset the full five-year requirement. The appeal was allowed in September 2025, even though the site sat just outside the town's built-up area boundary and counted as countryside, with up to 46 affordable homes given significant weight. The council's later calculation uses the new figure for all five years.
How the Council Now Treats Applications Outside Village Boundaries
On 1 June 2026 the cabinet endorsed an interim policy position statement setting out which parts of its plan it regards as out of date while supply is short. Its main points for a landowner:
- Countryside housing policy. The restrictive part of policy AS.10, which limits new homes in the countryside and villages, should be treated as out of date.
- Near-term delivery counts. The council will focus on proposals that would clearly improve the five-year position, and treats clear evidence that homes will actually be built within that period as a relevant consideration.
- Scale to suit the place. Sites should suit the size, character and role of the settlement, allowing for permissions already granted and sites proposed in the joint plan.
- Talk first. Applicants are strongly encouraged to use the council's paid pre-application service before applying.
- Not permanent. The statement falls away once five years can be shown or the joint plan is adopted.
The statement goes through the Core Strategy policy by policy. It treats the spatial strategy in CS.15 and the housing numbers in CS.16 as out of date, including CS.16's limits on the scale of building in four categories of service village. The policies on affordable housing, housing mix and existing homes (CS.18 to CS.20) and on reusing rural brownfield sites (AS.11) stay up to date, so a scheme still has to meet them in full. Where delivery is the deciding point, the council may prefer a full application over an outline one, and will ask the parties to sign a memorandum of understanding setting out a programme to build within five years of permission. We prepare that evidence and deal with the council on it.
This sits alongside national policy. National policy S5, in the framework revised in August 2026, reads a shortfall in the five-year supply as a sign that housing need is going unmet, and that lends weight to homes beyond a settlement boundary. It is not a free pass. The land has to relate properly to the town or village beside it, and roads, schools and drainage need the capacity. S5 does not reach the Green Belt, where grey belt has its own test of need and the Golden Rules follow, as our grey belt guide explains. Inside built-up area boundaries policy S4 applies instead, and there permission should follow unless the harm would substantially outweigh the benefits.
Neighbourhood Plans Offer Less Protection Than Parishes May Think
The same statement reviewed all 32 of the district's neighbourhood plans against the national test for protecting their housing policies. It found 16 were more than five years old and 9 of the more recent ones allocate no housing. Of the 7 recent plans with allocations, it judged those for Clifford Chambers and Milcote, Ilmington, Long Marston, Quinton and Tysoe still up to date, but not Southam or Tanworth-in-Arden. That leaves 27 neighbourhood areas where the plan's housing supply policies, and above all its settlement boundary, are likely to carry significantly reduced weight. The plans' other policies still count, and a site that fits a parish's aims is easier to take forward.
What Recent Decisions Show
On 23 September 2026 the planning committee approved up to 217 homes on land at Home Farm off the A423 in Southam, in line with officers' advice. At the same meeting it refused permission in principle for three to five homes behind a house on Banbury Road at Pillerton Priors, against officers' advice, citing harm to the character of the area. The shortfall adds weight to a good scheme; it does not settle every case. Our how it works page explains how we take a site from first review to a decision like that, at our cost.
The Land We Look for in Stratford-on-Avon
- Fields adjoining Stratford-upon-Avon or the market towns, especially where homes could start within five years.
- Land beside the larger villages, such as Bidford-on-Avon, Studley and Wellesbourne, sized to suit the village.
- Sites mostly in Flood Zone 1, clear of the river flood plains.
- Former farmyards, workshops and commercial land, including in the Green Belt.
- Larger holdings near the joint plan's growth locations, which may suit later phases or a future review.
In a district where the council wants homes that can be delivered soon, the quality of the evidence decides the outcome: access, drainage, ecology, heritage and a realistic build programme. We pay for all of it under an option agreed at a fixed price at the outset, above the land's value today. You keep farming or using the land in the meantime. Should the application fail, the land stays yours and nothing is owed to us. Our page on farmland shows the holdings we look at.
Stratford Between the Summer 2027 Target and a 2028 Plan
The Council's Own Target
The action plan goes back to October 2025, when officers told the cabinet in a report on options for boosting housing land that regaining five years might need 3,500 to 4,000 more deliverable homes, and that the process could realistically take until summer 2027. Their fifteen measures ranged from reviewing sites already in neighbourhood plans (115 to 448 homes) and the draft Site Allocations Plan (667 to 779 homes from 16 sites), through more than 200 smaller sites put forward for the joint plan, to shorter time limits on permissions, faster reserved matters and help for stalled sites. One of the largest contributions, about 1,000 homes, was expected simply from granting more applications. Officers also advised that whether a site appears in the emerging joint plan is largely irrelevant when an application is decided, and cannot be relied on as a reason for refusal. They expected land beside existing settlements, outside the National Landscape and the Green Belt, to be the most exposed to new applications.
In April 2026 the cabinet heard that supply had fallen again, as officers had expected, and noted progress on the action plan behind the cross-party Housing Delivery Advisory Group's target of evidencing five years by summer 2027. The same meeting found the Core Strategy out of date on housing land supply and agreed to write a new housing strategy for 2026 to 2031. A further progress report was scheduled for cabinet in October 2026. The council intended to publish its next statement, based on 1 April 2026 and covering 2026 to 2031, in late summer 2026.
The Joint Plan's Examination
The council's Local Development Scheme, dated April 2026, shows submission in December 2026, hearings from January to September 2027 and adoption in March 2028, subject to the inspector's report. A draft charging schedule for a new Community Infrastructure Levy was timetabled for consultation in September and October 2026, with its examination set for the same January to September 2027 window as the plan's hearings. Once adopted, the plan's allocations and new five-year calculation replace the Core Strategy's, and the interim statement stops applying.
The Next Delivery Test
The Housing Delivery Test 2025 came out on 17 August 2026, and a new edition follows each year. At 202%, Stratford-on-Avon faces none of the test's consequences, and the next window drops 2022/23, when 1,431 homes were completed, and adds 2025/26. Should it fall under 85%, the council would have to find a 20% buffer rather than 5% on top of its requirement; we make no forecast.
Reorganisation, Paused
The government's plans for new unitary councils in Warwickshire are on hold. On 7 September 2026 the council reported that Warwickshire is one of 14 areas where reorganisation proposals are now paused while the government reviews whether the process is legally sound, with the May 2027 polls going ahead on current council boundaries. Applications here are still decided by Stratford-on-Avon District Council.
What This Means for Timing
- Land that sits well against a town or village, and could deliver homes quickly, is best looked at now, while the shortfall and the interim statement carry weight.
- Larger holdings near the joint plan's growth locations are better prepared for the examination in 2027 and the phases beyond it.
- Unsure where your land fits? That is the first question our free review answers.
Questions About Land in Stratford-on-Avon
Stratford-on-Avon has built well ahead of its plan. Why is it short of land?
The measure moved. The Core Strategy asked for 730 homes a year, but once it was more than five years old supply has been measured against the government's 1,112 a year, while completions have fallen since 2021/22.
My field is just outside a village boundary. Does policy AS.10 still stop it?
The council now treats the restrictive part of AS.10 as out of date for housing while supply is short. The field still has to suit the village in scale and location, and to show that homes could be delivered within five years. We look at both before recommending anything.
My parish has a neighbourhood plan. Will it block an application?
Not necessarily. The council's own review found that 27 of the district's 32 neighbourhood plans are more than five years old, allocate no housing, or allocate too little to meet local need, so their housing policies, including settlement boundaries, carry less weight at present. They still matter, and we read your parish's plan first.
I did not put my land into the joint plan's call for sites. Is it too late?
For this plan, very probably. The call for sites is closed to new land and the plan is heading for submission. While supply is short, a well placed site can still come forward by application, and later reviews will look for more land.
Is land in the Cotswolds National Landscape worth asking about?
The joint plan has chosen not to meet any of its needs inside the National Landscape, so a large scheme there is unlikely. A former farmyard or a small site within a village can still be worth a look, and we will tell you plainly where it stands.
Tell Us About Your Land in Stratford-on-Avon
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 Warwick District
Selling land in Warwick? We agree your price up front and pay for all the planning. If it fails, you keep your land and owe nothing.
Sources
- Stratford-on-Avon District Council: Five year housing land supply calculation at 31 March 2025 (2026)
- Planning Inspectorate: Appeal decision APP/J3720/W/25/3358848, orchard adjacent to Chutneys, Bordon Hill, Stratford-upon-Avon (3 September 2025)
- Stratford-on-Avon District Council: Interim Policy Position Statement (June 2026)
- Stratford-on-Avon District Council: Cabinet decisions, 13 April 2026
- Stratford-on-Avon District Council: Authority Monitoring Report 2024/25 (March 2026)
- Stratford-on-Avon District Council: Local Development Scheme (April 2026)
- South Warwickshire Local Plan, Regulation 19 version: Development strategy (July 2026)
- South Warwickshire Local Plan, Regulation 19 version: Site proposals (July 2026)
- Stratford-on-Avon District Council: Planning Committee, 23 September 2026, results
- South Warwickshire Local Plan: Call for sites
- Stratford-on-Avon District Council: Statement on local government reorganisation (7 September 2026)
- Stratford-on-Avon District Council: The Cabinet, 6 October 2025, Options for Boosting the Supply of Housing Land (October 2025)
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.