Welwyn Hatfield has 2.5 years of housing land, not five, and has built 3,577 homes against a 6,080 target. The new Local Plan reaches councillors in September.

Welwyn Hatfield adopted its Local Plan in October 2023 after one of the longest examinations in the country, and the Inspector let it through on condition the council started looking for more land straight away. Nearly three years on, the borough has 2.5 years of deliverable housing land against the five years national policy requires, and the replacement plan is due in front of councillors in September.

Every figure below comes from the council’s own documents.

Where the numbers actually stand

The adopted Welwyn Hatfield Local Plan (2016 to 2036) sets a housing target of 15,200 homes over the plan period, or 760 a year. The council’s own Annual Monitoring Report shows what has been delivered against it.

Welwyn Hatfield housing requirement against delivery and land supply Two paired horizontal bars. Over 2016 to 2024 the requirement was 6,080 homes and 3,577 were completed. For the five years to 2028-29 the requirement is 5,603 homes and the projected supply is 2,849, which equals 2.5 years of supply against the five years required. Welwyn Hatfield is running at about half its housing requirement Homes required against homes delivered and homes in the pipeline. Dark bar = requirement, pale bar = actual. Built, 2016/17 to 2023/24 Required (760 a year) Completed Five-year requirement Projected supply 6,080 homes 3,577 homes 5,603 homes 2,849 homes = 2.5 years Five-year land supply, 2024/25 to 2028/29 Source: Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council Annual Monitoring Report 2023/24, published January 2025, tables 11 and 16. The five-year requirement includes a 20% buffer and the shortfall carried forward from earlier years.
Chart by Welwyn Online. Figures from the council's Annual Monitoring Report 2023/24.
  • 359 net new homes were completed in 2023/24, against the 760 a year target.
  • Over the eight years from 2016/17, 3,577 homes were completed against a requirement of 6,080, a running shortfall of 2,503.
  • The five-year housing land requirement for 2024/25 to 2028/29 is 5,603 homes: 3,800 from the target, a 760-home 20% buffer, and 1,043 of the accumulated shortfall. Against that, the council can identify 2,849 homes, made up of 2,571 on specific sites and a 278-home windfall allowance. That is 2.5 years of supply.
  • The 2023 Housing Delivery Test, published in December 2024, put Welwyn Hatfield at 52% of its requirement over the three years to 2022/23. Because that is below 75%, the council must apply the presumption in favour of sustainable development when deciding applications, and add the 20% buffer.

In practice, that combination is why speculative applications on unallocated land get a hearing here. The council’s own report puts the reason plainly: delays at the larger strategic sites mean supply is lower than projected, though an increasing number of allocated sites are now coming forward.

The plan allocates fewer homes than the target

There is a second gap, and it is structural. The Local Plan identifies sites for 13,400 homes over the 2016 to 2036 period against a target of 15,200. It was found sound anyway, on the basis that the council would start work on finding the balance within twelve months of adoption.

That is what the current exercise is. The adopted plan commits the council to submitting a replacement before October 2026.

Where the homes have gone so far

Half the borough’s housebuilding since 2016 has happened in Welwyn Garden City and just over a third in Hatfield, but the annual split moves around sharply. In 2023/24, Hatfield delivered nearly twice as many homes as Welwyn Garden City.

Net housing completions by settlement, Welwyn Hatfield
Settlement2023/242016/17 to 2023/24Share of plan period
Welwyn Garden City1041,79350%
Hatfield2101,23935%
Welwyn51885%
Brookmans Park7692%
Woolmer Green0762%
Rural areas14812%
Cuffley0531%
Digswell18301%
Oaklands and Mardley Heath1311%
Welham Green0110%
Little Heath060%

The four biggest completions in 2023/24 were all in Hatfield: 91 homes at Minster House, 71 at 1-9 Town Centre, a 104-bed care home on Broadwater Road and 42 at Onslow St Audreys. Three of those four are Local Plan site allocations.

The two schemes that will change the numbers

The Wheat Quarter, Welwyn Garden City. The council’s Development Management Committee resolved to grant planning permission on 18 November 2025 for the northern part of the former Shredded Wheat factory site, subject to a legal agreement. The scheme is 578 homes, made up of townhouses, build-to-rent apartments and a 141-unit retirement living building, alongside a 180-room aparthotel with a public café, new retail floorspace, a secure cycle hub and an improved walking route to the station including a lift. The Grade II listed silos are to be restored and reused for leisure, retail, co-working and food and drink around a new public square.

North West Hatfield. A strategic allocation in the adopted Local Plan for a housing-led mixed-use development of roughly 1,750 homes, with new schools, a neighbourhood centre, retail, employment space and open space. The Supplementary Planning Document, prepared by the landowner Gascoyne Estates with borough and county council officers, went out to consultation from 8 November to 20 December 2024.

Between them those two sites account for a little over 2,300 homes, which is most of the way to closing the 2,503-home shortfall on their own, if and when they build out.

The new Local Plan, and when to have your say

The replacement plan runs to 2043. The stages so far:

  • 3 December 2025: the council published the vision and strategic objectives for the new plan, built around three themes: people and places, economy and infrastructure, and environment and climate.
  • 12 February to 26 March 2026: the Regulation 18 draft Local Plan consultation, with drop-in sessions at Cuffley Community Library, Hatfield Library, the Howard Centre, Welwyn Library, North Mymms Parish Council offices, the University of Hertfordshire Forum, the Dutch Marketplace at Brookmans Park and Christ Church, Little Heath.
  • 27 July 2026: the Cabinet Planning and Parking Panel unanimously agreed a set of Development Management Policies, covering design quality, sustainability standards, employment land, open space and biodiversity, shaped by the responses to the February consultation.
  • September 2026: the full Local Plan goes to councillors, and is then submitted for independent examination.
  • Before it is submitted there will be a Regulation 19 publication consultation, which is the last formal chance to comment. That is the stage where objections have to be made if you want the Inspector to consider them.

The council that adopts it may not exist

On 16 July 2026 the government confirmed it will create four unitary councils in Hertfordshire, subject to parliamentary approval. Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council will be abolished and most of the borough will become part of a Central Hertfordshire authority, together with Stevenage and most of North Herts. The Northaw and Cuffley ward goes the other way, into an Eastern Hertfordshire authority with Broxbourne and East Herts.

Elections to the new authorities are due in May 2027 and they take over services on 1 April 2028. A Local Plan submitted in late 2026 would therefore be examined by one council and delivered by another.

How to check an application

Welwyn Hatfield does not use the Idox system most Hertfordshire councils run. Its planning register is at planning.welhat.gov.uk, which has its own search, and committee papers and decisions are published through democracy.welhat.gov.uk.

Frequently asked questions

Does Welwyn Hatfield have a five year housing land supply?

No. The council’s most recent Annual Monitoring Report identifies 2.5 years of deliverable supply against the five years required: 2,849 homes against a requirement of 5,603 for 2024/25 to 2028/29.

What is Welwyn Hatfield’s housing target?

15,200 homes between 2016 and 2036, which is 760 a year. The adopted Local Plan allocates sites for 13,400 of them, and the Inspector accepted the plan on the basis that the council would begin looking for the rest immediately.

How many homes are actually being built?

359 net new homes in 2023/24, less than half the annual target, and 3,577 in the eight years since 2016/17 against a requirement of 6,080. The council expects delivery to pick up from around 2027 as allocated sites come forward.

When was the Welwyn Hatfield Local Plan adopted?

12 October 2023, after an examination by Inspector Melvyn Middleton whose final report was received on 25 September 2023. It replaced the 2005 District Plan.

What is happening at the old Shredded Wheat factory?

The Development Management Committee resolved on 18 November 2025 to grant permission for 578 homes on the northern part of the site, plus a 180-room aparthotel, retail space, a cycle hub and the restoration of the Grade II listed silos around a new public square, subject to a legal agreement.

When can I comment on the new Local Plan?

The Regulation 18 consultation closed on 26 March 2026. The next and final formal stage is the Regulation 19 publication consultation, which comes before submission for examination. The full plan is due before councillors in September 2026.

Sources

What the shortage is doing to prices is on Welwyn Garden City house prices. What the new traffic will use is on Welwyn Garden City roadworks, parking and travel.