Here's how many new homes were built in each part of Lancashire as two areas fail to deliver enough

Two Lancashire councils have failed to deliver the number of new homes their areas need, according to new figures.

Just 48 percent of the properties required in the Lancaster City Council patch were actually built over a three-year period, while Chorley Council witnessed 63 percent of its tally come to fruition.

Across Lancashire, a total of 18,291 dwellings sprung up between 2022/23 and 2024/25 - with 11 out 14 local authority areas exceeding their minimum new housing needs, as calculated by a government formula. The figures include all types of development in the private and social sectors.

Burnley, Preston, Ribble Valley and Hyndburn all saw more than five times as many homes built as were demanded by that calculation - with Preston delivering the most by volume at 3,695 units.

However, in Lancaster, only 612 dwellings were completed in the timeframe out of the city's 1,271 target.

Meanwhile, Chorley achieved 986 new properties - but the borough had been aiming for 1,553.

That means the two authorities failed the government's annual housing delivery test by such a significant margin that they will now have three demands placed upon them - including drawing up an action plan to help them fulfil their new home needs.

They must also add a 20 percent ‘buffer’ to their identified supply of deliverable housing sites - thereby setting aside more land than they would otherwise have done - and approve the development of plots outside defined settlements intended for housebuilding, unless the benefits of doing so would be “substantially outweighed by any adverse effects”.

However, Chorley Council is already subject to the latter two stipulations - the first because of a change to national planning policy earlier this year and the second as a result of the borough also falling foul of a separate government planning rule that says all areas must have a five-year supply of land available to meet their new housing requirements.

The latest assessment by that measure shows Chorley can prove only a 3.4-year supply of such land, while it awaits a reset that will be brought about by the adoption of the forthcoming Central Lancashire Local Plan - a strategy that will direct development across the district, along with neighbouring South Ribble and Preston, for the next 15 years.

To that end, little will change for Chorley in practical terms as a result of its failure of the housing delivering test.

Cllr Alex Hilton, the authority’s cabinet member for planning and development, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We are aware of the figures released and were expecting this outcome as the development of the Central Lancashire Local Plan (2023-2041) is still ongoing which will identify our five-year supply for housing in the area.

"The findings provide no change to how we as a council currently make our planning decisions.”

The local plan for the sub-region is undergoing an assessment by a government-appointed inspector who is considering further evidence requested from the three districts to demonstrate that the document is sound. That followed a public examination of the plan at hearings that took place at the turn of the year.

Meanwhile, Lancaster City Council’s cabinet member for planning, Sue Tyldsley noted that this year was the first time her authority had fallen below a perfect 100 percent score in the housing delivery test since it was introduced in 2019.

She added: “However, the data is not a surprise given the challenges that the district faces in terms of suitable land availability and infrastructure capacity.

“The application of nationally-set housing targets that fail to reflect local circumstances means that there is a greater risk of housing being delivered in the wrong locations and without the necessary infrastructure to support it.

“However, the council is already responding positively to the need to build more houses. It has commenced work on a new local plan which is expected to identify housing land allocations. In addition, at each of the previous four planning regulatory committee meetings, the committee has approved applications for new house building across the district.

“The council will continue to work with developers, landowners and our local communities to aim to secure the best and most appropriate housing outcomes for our district”.

Lancashire's 12 other councils with planning responsibilities all achieved at least the 95 percent housing delivery test score that shields them from any government intervention in their planning processes.

LANCASHIRE HOUSING DELIVERY TEST RESULTS (2022-23 to 2024-2025)

The figures below show the number of homes built out of the minimum calculated need - and the resultant housing delivery test score as a percentage:

Blackburn with Darwen - 1,623 / 426: 381 percent

Blackpool - 658 / 423: 156 percent

Burnley - 783 / 164: 478 percent

Chorley - 986 / 1,553: 63 percent

Fylde - 1,424 / 815: 175 percent

Hyndburn - 632 / 154: 411 percent

Lancaster - 612 / 1,271: 48 percent

Pendle - 534 / 397: 135 percent

Preston - 3,695 / 803: 460 percent

Ribble Valley - 1,552 / 365: 425 percent

Rossendale - 530 / 550: 96 percent

South Ribble - 1,754 / 525: 354 percent

West Lancashire - 1,474 / 529: 274 percent

Wyre - 2,034 / 859: 237 percent

Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government