Local Plan Regulation 18 - Housing supply

4.0 The council's housing target in the London Plan (2021)^[1] is 1,609 additional homes a year in the period up to 2029. The figure of 1,609 additional homes was developed through collaborative working with the Greater London Authority (GLA) and through further work on the council's and London's Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment^[2].

Local housing need

4.1 The Council has commissioned a Local Housing Needs Assessment (LHNA) which identifies that following the updated Standard Method in May 2025, the current Local Housing Need figure for Hammersmith and Fulham is 2,769 dwellings per annum. It however notes that this figure would only apply to Hammersmith and Fulham if the London Plan was not extant. The London Plan sets 10-year housing targets for each London borough. As of the most recent London Plan (2021), this figure is 1,609 homes per year. At the time of writing the GLA is working towards a new London Plan and is proposing an annual housing target of 88,000 homes per year for London. This figure will be divided amongst the boroughs and H&F's figure amended accordingly.

4.2 It should be noted that the Local Housing Need Figure under the Standard Method for Hammersmith and Fulham as a whole includes the area covered by the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC). However, it should be noted that the OPDC is a separate planning authority and therefore, sets its own separate housing targets.

Housing targets

4.3 Table 2 indicates that the council would expect housing provision to exceed the London Plan (2021) target for additional homes. Recent experience indicates that even though sites are developable and have the benefit of planning permission, housing completions do not come forward at the anticipated rate. The council will monitor the annual completion of dwellings and will work with developers to ensure that sites with residential planning permissions are developed.

4.4 Housing capacities in the two opportunity areas in White City and Earls Court & West Kensington are based on planning permissions

4.5 The indicative housing targets in Table 2 are based on the assessment methodology set out in the London SHLAA. The actual numbers of houses built on any site will be considered through the planning application process. This process will take account of the site setting, urban design of housing areas, appropriate housing mix, transport capacity and other factors as set out in policies in the Local Plan and other guidance. In addition to the significant amounts of new housing proposed in the regeneration areas, additional housing will come forward through residential conversions and on windfall sites throughout the borough. There may also be opportunities for co-location, mixed-use and intensification to provide further opportunities for housing on suitable sites.

4.6 To maximise the delivery of homes to meet the borough's needs, sites that come forward must optimise their potential for housing using a design-led approach, in line with the London Plan and Local Plan Policy E1.

Small sites

4.7 The development of small sites plays an important role in increasing housing supply in the borough. Opportunities should be taken to optimise the capacity of small sites for new housing development. The NPPF requires planning authorities to identify at least 10% of their housing requirement on sites no larger than 1 hectare. Furthermore, the London Plan sets out a 'small sites' target for every borough. The small sites ten-year target (2019-2029) for Hammersmith and Fulham in the London Plan is 2,590. Due the compact and dense character of the borough, there is a limited capacity for small sites to come forward. However, the borough's Character Study and Small Sites Guidance (2021) provides specific design guidance for these smaller sites.

Housing types

4.8 Non-conventional forms of residential accommodation such as student accommodation and purpose-built shared living accommodation can also count towards the borough's housing targets. For the purpose of monitoring housing completions, net changes on conventional and non-conventional forms of housing will be calculated in line with the London Plan methodology.

Vacancy

4.9 In addition to the provision of new housing to meet both local need and London's need for more housing, it is essential that housing is not lost to other uses and that it is not allowed to remain vacant. According to council tax data cited in the Housing in London 2024 report, approximately 2.3% of London's housing stock was classified as long-term vacant in 2023^[3]. Like other councils, Hammersmith and Fulham have introduced council tax premiums on empty and second homes, making it more financially burdensome to leave properties unoccupied or underused. The council will also work with developers and land owners to ensure that new dwellings are marketed and occupied as homes by local and UK residents.

Self-build and custom build

4.10 The Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015 requires local authorities to keep a register of individuals and associations of individuals seeking to acquire serviced plots of land to build houses for those individuals to occupy as homes. Self-build typically refers to individuals seeking to build their own home and to occupy them. The council has produced a self-build register, where individuals may register their interest.

4.11 Self-Build and Custom Housebuilding refers to individuals or groups of individuals interested in buying land and building a home to occupy. Data from the council's Local Housing Needs Assessment (LHNA) indicates that delivery of self and custom housebuilding in the borough is very low. There are a number of broad barriers to delivering or undertaking such a project which indicates why there are such low output levels at a local level, in London and nationally: the high cost of land, access to finance, which in turn favours high-density development and builders able to capitalise on economies of scale. Self-build typically takes place in small infill sites, end of terrace spaces, backland sites, gardens, garages, and small industrial sites. In parts of London where land values are lower, sites which would not have interest from developers, such as those on the fringe of industrial sites, there are greater opportunities for this type of development to take place.

4.12 In Hammersmith and Fulham, where land prices are high and the supply of available land for development is so competitive, these factors do not provide the best conditions for self-build or custom housebuilding to take place. Whilst the council is supportive in principle, this will continue to be monitored and assessed through the AMR and self-build register.

4.13 The Mayor's London Plan Guidance and Supplementary Planning Guidance documents on the topic of Housing should be read in conjunction with this policy.