Why we must produce a local plan
Councils are legally required to have an up‑to‑date local plan for their area. The local plan must cover at least 15 years and be in line with national planning policy.
At the heart of the local plan is the spatial strategy for the area. This sets out how much housing, economic and other development is needed, and where it should be located.
The local plan also identifies the infrastructure needed to support new development. It sets out which areas should be protected for heritage, cultural, recreational and environmental reasons.
The Somerset Local Plan will cover the period from 2025 to 2045 and applies to all of Somerset, apart from Exmoor National Park, which has its own local plan.
Changes to the plan-making system
A new plan‑making system for England came into force in March 2026. This has changed how plans are prepared and how people can take part at each stage. Because we have already completed much of the early evidence gathering, engagement, and a Call for Sites, we can progress on an accelerated timetable.
The National Planning Policy Framework will include national decision‑making policies that apply across England. This means the Somerset Local Plan will look different from our current adopted local plans.
The new plan will be more high‑level and strategic, with fewer locally specific policies, but it will still allocate sites for new development.
How the Local Plan will affect you
If you live, work or visit Somerset, the Local Plan is relevant to you.
The Local Plan guides where and how changes to our towns, villages and countryside may happen over the next 15 to 20 years. This means that the Local Plan is likely to impact you at some point in the future. For example, over the next 15 years you or a family member may need to buy or rent a house in Somerset. You may work locally or want to set up a business here. You may simply want to be able to shop locally or make sure that our landscape, wildlife and cultural heritage is protected.
Changes which might affect you now or in the future include:
- the building of new homes, offices, industrial units and shops
- the creation of new jobs
- the building of community facilities
- the location of our parks and play spaces
- routes for walking and cycling paths
The Local Plan also identifies the places and features which are important to us because of what they look like, their history or the sense of place or tranquillity they provide us.
Calculating housing need
We are required to use the Government’s ‘Standard Method’ for calculating housing need, which is detailed in the Planning Practice Guidance (PPG).
- Setting the baseline
This is calculated as 0.8% of an authority’s most recent housing stock data for the area. - An adjustment to take account of affordability
The mean average affordability over the five most recent years for which data is available.
No adjustment is applied where the ratio is 5 or below. For each 1% the ratio is above 5, the housing stock baseline should be increased by 0.95%. So, for example, an authority with a ratio of 10 will have a 95% increase on its annual housing stock baseline. The affordability ratio is an indicator of past under delivery in housing and responds to price signals of future demand.
This method of calculating housing need was introduced in the National Planning Policy Framework published in December 2024. It saw an uplift in the number of homes required across Somerset Local Planning Authority area of 42% from 2,660 to 3,769 per year.
- Housing Need – Is an assessment of the minimum number of homes needed in an area. It is calculated using the government’s standard method. This uses a formula that incorporates a baseline of existing local housing stock and is adjusted to reflect local affordability pressures.
- Housing Requirement – is the minimum number of homes that a local plan seeks to provide during the plan period. It takes account of the housing need figure and considers whether there are any constraints or other factors that may dictate the number of new homes that we plan for. The housing requirement could be higher or lower than the housing need depending on the local context.
More information on housing need in Somerset is in the Somerset Local Housing Needs Assessment.
More information on our five-year housing land supply is on our monitoring page.