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Housing Delivery Test (HDT) & Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA)

The following documents relate to housing delivery in the Borough and evidence which aims to identify available land for potential housing development.

Housing Delivery Test

The Housing Delivery Test (HDT) was introduced to ensure that enough new homes are being built in England and to increase the pace of house building.

The HDT compares the number of new homes built in each local authority area over the previous three years against the local housing requirement. 

Dudley scored 93% on the 2022 HDT (results published in December 2023). The Council is therefore required to produce an Action Plan that sets out how it will support the delivery of more homes and publish it by June 2024.

SHLAA

Local Planning Authorities are required under national planning policy to carry out a Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA).

The SHLAA is an audit of available land for potential housing development, acting as a key evidence base to support the delivery of sufficient land for housing.

We published our first SHLAA in March 2010 to support the Black Country Core Strategy (adopted February 2011). As required by the National Planning Policy Framework, the SHLAA is not a static document and needs updating periodically, to inform the Borough’s housing land supply and trajectory. A copy of Dudley’s SHLAA update for monitoring year 2021/2022 (1st April 2021-31st March 2022) is available to view and download below. 

The SHLAA provides an important evidence base for emerging documents within the Council’s Local Plan.