Housing Market Delivery Study, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council

Client: Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
Location: Tonbridge and Malling
Discipline(s):

The Economic Planning team at GL Hearn produced a Housing Market Delivery Study for Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council (TMBC). Compliant with the NPPF, the study provided an assessment of the capacity of the Borough to absorb new housing over a Plan period to 2040.

The study required an examination of the housing market areas (HMAs) in which the Borough sits given the strategic nature of housing policy. The final deliverable tested the resilience of the Borough and HMA housing land supplies and clarified Duty to Cooperate responsibilities between TMBC and neighbouring councils.

Outcome

The study started with a major exercise in data gathering to assess market dynamics at the national, HMA and Borough spatial scales. In so doing, a number of market types were identified.

The report found that Tonbridge and Malling falls into the over-heated market type, indicating a very strong demand for homes. That said, the Council has performed relatively well in meeting demand.

The data included housing completions over the period since 2011 and forecast supply from 2022 to 2040 in the HMAs, broken down to individual councils. This enabled a comparative study of historic and future growth rates to be undertaken to assess whether the housing market in the HMAs and the Borough were strong enough to meet its annual targets as set out in 5-year housing land supply trajectories.

The report enabled the Council to adopt clear positions as regards, firstly, its ability to accept unmet need from neighbouring authorities and, secondly, the capacity of its land supply to meet its own housing targets.

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