Solihull Local Plan advances with 8,219 homes near stations

The Solihull Local Plan has cleared a crucial political hurdle after councillors backed publication of the borough’s draft plan for formal consultation, putting major station-area housing proposals on the path towards examination.

Full Council approved the draft’s progression on 6th October 2026 following Cabinet endorsement the previous week. The plan proposes a requirement for 21,913 homes between 2026 and 2043, with a land supply of 23,091 homes and a particularly substantial contribution expected from areas near railway stations.

The vote authorises the next plan-making stage, not the final adoption of the Local Plan and not planning permission for individual development sites. The six-week Regulation 19 consultation must still open, representations must be considered and the plan must be submitted for independent examination.

Solihull Local Plan moves towards Regulation 19

The decision follows a contentious period for Solihull’s plan-making. The borough’s adopted Local Plan dates from 2013, while a previous review encountered examination problems and was withdrawn. Meanwhile, significant changes to national housing requirements and Green Belt policy have altered the amount and location of development the council must consider.

The council’s 23rd September announcement explained that Full Council was being asked to approve publication of the draft for six weeks of representations. Local reporting following the 6th October meeting confirms that the draft plan passed after lengthy debate. Formal consultation dates should be checked against the council’s portal when they are announced; approval to publish does not mean the consultation is already open.

The distinction matters for landowners and planning consultants. Regulation 19 representations chiefly test whether the plan is legally compliant and sound. They are not the same as earlier Regulation 18 discussions about the broad range of options the council might consider.

As the council’s planning portfolio holder, Councillor Andrew Mackiewicz, put it ahead of the vote, the proposed plan seeks to protect the Green Belt and Meriden Gap while also providing homes and jobs suitable for all. The council’s published material is clear that balancing these competing pressures is central to the plan.

A housing requirement rising to 1,628 homes a year

The draft sets out a total requirement of 21,913 additional homes over 17 years, equivalent to an average need of approximately 1,289 homes annually. That is materially higher than the annual level envisaged in the council’s unsuccessful 2020 plan review.

Rather than demand the same number every year, the draft adopts a stepped approach. Its proposed figures are 400 dwellings a year from 2026 to 2028, 967 annually from 2028 to 2033 and 1,628 annually from 2033 to 2043. These rounded annual stages broadly reconcile with the overall plan period requirement.

The later increase is striking against the borough’s recent delivery record, which the draft describes as averaging approximately 647 completions annually over the previous decade. The plan therefore depends heavily on larger sites and infrastructure-led development coming forward in its later years.

For planning applicants, these figures are important but not self-executing. The proposed housing requirement is not yet an adopted policy. Any assessment of five-year supply, decision-making weight or release of particular sites must take account of the plan’s actual stage and the applicable national policy.

8,219 homes proposed near railway stations

The biggest identifiable element of Solihull’s future housing supply is 8,219 homes linked to locations near railway stations. The council has looked at land around stations including Dorridge, Hampton in Arden, Berkswell, Whitlock’s End and Wythall, Widney Manor and the Tile Hill area adjoining the borough.

The final draft discussed by Cabinet identifies particularly large indicative capacities at the Shirley, Whitlock’s End and Wythall group, Berkswell, Hampton in Arden and Tile Hill. These station areas are described as broad locations for growth rather than a complete set of detailed, immediately deliverable housing allocations.

That distinction protects against a common misreading. A capacity attributed to the broad vicinity of a station is not planning permission for every field within walking distance of its platforms. Precise site boundaries, developable areas, access, drainage, biodiversity, landscape effects and infrastructure requirements remain to be addressed through subsequent processes.

The proposed station-area strategy also puts Solihull at the centre of wider debates about the relationship between railway accessibility and Green Belt policy. The relevant national policy wording, distance thresholds and site-specific circumstances must be applied carefully rather than treated as an automatic blanket release.

Green Belt and grey belt remain central to delivery

Much of Solihull’s undeveloped land is Green Belt. The draft therefore seeks to reconcile housing targets with the protections applying to the Meriden Gap and settlements to the east and south of the borough. Some of the largest future growth opportunities depend on the interaction between national policy, a future adopted plan and infrastructure delivery.

The council’s evidence considered land within a wider search distance of stations, while the national policy approach to well-connected station sites refers to a shorter reasonable walking-distance measure. In practical terms, being somewhere within an assessment catchment is not itself a sufficient planning justification.

Neither the Cabinet endorsement nor the Full Council vote removes Green Belt designation from any parcel of land immediately. Even after adoption, proposals will require close attention to the precise wording of allocations or broad-location policies and any safeguards that continue to apply.

Planning Geek’s guidance on how much weight emerging Local Plans carry is directly relevant to applications being made before the Solihull examination is complete. A proposed policy can be important evidence without having the same status as the development plan.

Other allocations, town centres and Arden Cross

Beyond the station-area strategy, the draft identifies approximately 4,877 homes on allocated sites, alongside existing permissions, windfall development, town-centre opportunities and significant development around Arden Cross and the HS2 Interchange area.

Named allocations discussed in the published draft include development opportunities east of Solihull, around Dickens Heath and at Balsall Common. Other elements of supply rely on town-centre redevelopment, including proposals associated with Mell Square, together with smaller sites that could come forward over time.

The draft is not a single programme of council-led building. It combines public and private land, strategic growth sites and smaller opportunities that depend on developer decisions, finance and infrastructure. A land supply schedule is a planning evidence base, not a guaranteed completion programme.

That is especially relevant in a difficult residential market. Delivery assumptions for rail-adjacent sites and major regeneration schemes will be tested during examination, including whether the council has been sufficiently realistic about access, utilities, viability and build-out rates.

Affordable housing and infrastructure requirements

The draft also proposes substantial affordable housing expectations. Major housing development within or released from the Green Belt is generally proposed to deliver 50% affordable homes, while other major residential sites would normally face a 40% requirement, subject to the final policy wording and relevant viability considerations.

Such headline percentages are significant for land values, scheme design and negotiations, particularly where strategic sites carry major transport and utilities costs. The relationship between affordable housing delivery, strategic infrastructure and site-specific viability will be a core issue during the forthcoming examination.

Planning Geek’s guide to affordable housing planning obligations explains why tenure, policy expectations and viability evidence need to be considered together rather than treated as interchangeable figures.

The council’s published scrutiny discussions also emphasised cumulative impacts and cross-boundary cooperation. That will matter for schemes near the borough boundary, including areas where railway stations, roads and service catchments extend into neighbouring authorities.

What landowners should do during the consultation

For landowners promoting sites, the immediate task is not simply to object to the housing numbers or request an allocation in broad terms. Regulation 19 is intended to examine whether the proposed plan is sound, justified, effective and consistent with national policy, as well as legally compliant.

A focused representation should identify the exact policy or site reference at issue, show the evidence that supports the concern and explain what change would make the plan sound. Where a site is within a broad location rather than an allocation, the practical implications of that status should be addressed expressly.

Promoters should be ready to substantiate deliverability with ownership, constraints, access, utilities and funding evidence. Neighbours and community groups should also distinguish objections to the strategic principle from objections to the detailed effects of a particular development, which may fall to later applications.

Planning Geek’s Local Plan examination guide explains how soundness, inspector questions and main modifications work once a submitted plan enters examination. Consultation responses should be written with that stage in mind.

Submission deadline and the next decision points

Solihull is seeking to use the existing plan-making regime and aims to submit the draft for examination before the end of 2026. Its report identifies 31st December as the crucial submission deadline. The intended six-week consultation would therefore leave limited time to process representations and prepare the submission.

Once the consultation actually opens, interested parties should work from the published Regulation 19 document rather than an earlier Cabinet appendix if any wording or tables have been updated. They should also check the final representations deadline and any published evidence-base amendments.

The ultimate decision on soundness will rest with the independent examination and any necessary modifications, followed by a separate decision on adoption. Until then, the existing development plan and national planning policies remain central to determining applications.

The confirmed news event is the council’s approval to move the Solihull Local Plan forward for publication. The proposed homes, station-area figures and policy requirements are not yet adopted, and the opening date of the Regulation 19 consultation remains the next practical trigger.

Primary documents: the report to Full Council, the draft plan appendix and the council’s published explanation. The post-meeting report confirms the Full Council outcome.