The Government published the delayed 2024 and 2025 Housing Delivery Test measurements on 17 August 2026, alongside the revised National Planning Policy Framework. The 2025 measurement is the current set to use for planning decisions.
The results matter because the Housing Delivery Test does more than report how many homes were built. Falling below 95%, 85% and 75% brings progressively more serious national policy consequences, and the August 2026 NPPF has changed how the lowest threshold affects planning decisions.
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What is the Housing Delivery Test?
The Housing Delivery Test (HDT) is the Government’s annual measurement of housing delivery in the areas of relevant plan-making authorities. It compares net homes delivered with the homes required over a rolling three-year period and publishes the result as a percentage.
It measures delivery, not simply planning permissions. An authority can grant a large number of permissions and still record a weak HDT result if the homes are not actually completed.
The 2025 results in numbers
The published Planning Geek table contains 302 authority rows. One of those – the Isles of Scilly – has no numerical measurement, leaving 301 numerical results.
- 147 authorities (48.8%) of the numerical results are below 95% and therefore have an HDT-triggered consequence;
- 93 (30.9%) are below 75%;
- 19 (6.3%) are between 75% and 84%;
- 35 (11.6%) are between 85% and 94%; and
- 154 (51.2%) are at 95% or above.
Those percentages use the 301 numerical measurements as the denominator rather than treating the N/A row as a score.
You can search the full authority-by-authority results on our Housing Delivery Test guide.
What the three thresholds now mean
- Below 95%: the authority must prepare an action plan addressing the causes of under-delivery and how delivery will be improved.
- Below 85%: a 20% housing land supply buffer applies in addition to the action-plan consequence.
- Below 75%: the August 2026 NPPF treats the result as evidenced unmet housing need for policy S5(1)(j), as well as carrying the action-plan and HDT buffer consequences.
The last point is different from the old paragraph 11 shorthand. A sub-75% score does not simply switch on the former tilted balance. It feeds into the new S3–S6 presumption in favour of sustainable development. For suitable housing outside settlements, evidenced unmet need can bring a proposal within the favourable S5 policy category. Green Belt remains subject to its separate policies, although the same unmet-need evidence can be relevant to the grey-belt route.
How HDT differs from five year housing land supply
The two tests are related but different. HDT looks backwards at housing actually delivered over three years. The five year housing land supply looks forwards at whether enough deliverable housing sites are available for the next five years.
An authority can therefore have a poor HDT result but still demonstrate a five year supply, or vice versa. Under the 2026 NPPF, either a sub-75% HDT result or failure to demonstrate the required five year supply can provide express evidence of unmet housing need for S5.
A note on the HDT rule book and current guidance
The percentage is calculated by MHCLG under the Housing Delivery Test measurement rule book, which was updated on 17 August 2026 alongside the 2024 and 2025 measurements. The Government says the revised rule book includes changes relating to unmet-need adjustments to local housing need and transitional arrangements for the revised standard method, and those changes were applied to the 2024 and 2025 measurements.
Some related Planning Practice Guidance still uses pre-August-2026 NPPF terminology. The published 2025 measurement is the current score, the updated rule book explains how it was calculated, and the August 2026 NPPF sets the current planning-policy consequence of the result.
Does this affect an ordinary householder application?
Usually not directly. The HDT is a strategic housing-delivery measurement rather than a test of whether a house extension is acceptable.
It becomes much more important if you own land being promoted for housing, are dealing with a housing refusal or appeal, or are assessing a housing proposal outside a settlement or on potential grey-belt land. A low result is a powerful planning consideration, but it does not remove the need to satisfy design, highways, heritage, flood risk, Green Belt and other relevant policies.
Read the results
Our Housing Delivery Test guide contains the searchable 2025 authority table and explains the thresholds in more detail. For the wider housing-policy picture, continue with the five year housing land supply, SHLAA and our Housing and Planning section.
HDT Results News Page Updated: 18th August 2026
