After months of anticipation, the Government has finally published the Housing Delivery Test (HDT) results for both 2024 and 2025, bringing an end to the prolonged hiatus caused by planning reforms and consultation processes. Importantly, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed that the 2025 results are the operative figures for decision-making purposes and supersede the 2024 measurements.
For planners, developers, local authorities and planning inspectors, today's publication is more than a statistical update. It reactivates one of the most important performance tests in the planning system, with immediate consequences for decision-making and housing land supply across England.
A Reset After a Long Delay
The HDT measures housing delivery over a rolling three-year period. The newly published 2025 results assess delivery between 2022/23 and 2024/25 against each authority's housing requirement. The Government acknowledges that publication was delayed due to wider planning reform work and has released both the 2024 and 2025 results together to restore the normal publication cycle.
While many authorities may have become accustomed to operating under ageing 2023 figures, that position changes from today. The policy consequences associated with the latest HDT measurements now apply and will be highly relevant in planning appeals, housing land supply assessments and development management decisions.
The Importance of the New NPPF Annex D
Under the NPPF 2026 framework, Annex D sets out the consequences of under-delivery through the Housing Delivery Test. The thresholds remain a critical trigger for intervention:
- Below 95%: Local planning authorities are expected to prepare a Housing Action Plan.
- Below 85%: Authorities must apply a 20% buffer to their five-year housing land supply requirement.
- Below 75%: The presumption in favour of sustainable development is engaged for decision-taking.
These consequences are cumulative rather than alternative. Authorities falling below 75% face all three outcomes simultaneously.
What Makes This Year's Results Different?
The publication is accompanied by an updated HDT Rule Book introducing changes linked to:
- transitional arrangements associated with the revised Standard Method;
- adjustments for unmet housing need;
- updated approaches to calculating local housing need.
The Government has confirmed that these changes have been applied retrospectively to both the 2024 and 2025 measurements.
This means that authorities, applicants and consultants should be cautious when comparing today's results with earlier HDT publications. In some areas, outcomes may reflect methodological changes as much as actual delivery performance.
Implications for Decision-Making
For authorities that fall below the key thresholds, today's publication could have immediate planning consequences.
In particular, authorities dropping below the 75% threshold are likely to face renewed scrutiny regarding housing delivery performance and the application of the presumption in favour of sustainable development. Equally, those falling below 85% will need to reassess their five-year housing land supply position in light of the 20% buffer requirement.
For developers and land promoters, this may create opportunities in areas where housing supply arguments have become more difficult in recent years. Appeal decisions and planning inquiries will inevitably begin to reference today's figures as the new benchmark.
Final Thoughts
The publication of the long-awaited 2024 and 2025 Housing Delivery Test results marks an important moment in the ongoing evolution of the planning system. Together with the NPPF 2026, also published today, the HDT figures will influence planning decisions, housing land supply debates and appeal strategies across the country.
For local planning authorities, the message is clear: delivery matters.
For applicants and developers, now is the time to revisit the numbers, reassess local authority performance and understand how Annex D consequences may alter the planning balance in their areas.
How has your authority performed, and do today's HDT results fundamentally change the planning landscape where you work?
Link to the HDT:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/housing-delivery-test-2025-measurement
For further information please do not hesitate to contact our team.
17 August 2026
