East Herts can show only 3.4 to 3.7 years of housing land against a five-year duty. Plus Old River Lane, still undecided 137 days past its determination deadline.

One number explains most of what is happening to planning in Bishop’s Stortford and the villages around it. East Herts Council can currently demonstrate somewhere between 3.4 and 3.7 years of deliverable housing land, against a national requirement to show five. That is the council’s own estimate, published in its housing supply FAQ in April 2026, and it changes how every housing application in the district is decided.

The shortfall, in the council’s own words

Since late 2024 the government has set housing targets through a standard method formula. Under the 2024 methodology, East Herts must plan for 1,223 homes a year. For the purpose of proving a five-year supply, national policy adds a 5% buffer, so the working figure is 1,284 homes a year, or 6,421 over five years.

The council has not published a formal position statement since March 2024, when it could demonstrate 5.57 years against the old requirement. Its interim calculations, based on completions and a reassessment of the sites allocated in the District Plan, now put the figure at 3.4 to 3.7 years. In the FAQ’s blunt phrasing: “the increase in need has meant that this five-year supply no longer exists.”

East Herts housing land supply, 2024 statement against the 2026 interim position Bar chart of East Hertfordshire's deliverable housing land supply in years. The formal position statement of March 2024 showed 5.57 years, above the five year threshold. The council's interim calculation published in April 2026 shows a range of 3.4 to 3.7 years, well below the five year threshold. The requirement is 1,284 homes a year including the 5 per cent buffer, or 6,421 over five years. The supply has fallen below five years, and the target went up Years of deliverable housing land, East Hertfordshire district (East Herts Council housing supply FAQ, April 2026). Position statement, March 2024 5.57 years Interim calculation, April 2026 3.4 to 3.7 years Five year requirement 0123456 years Requirement under the 2024 standard method: 1,223 homes a year, plus a 5% buffer, giving 1,284 a year or 6,421 over five years. The 2024 figure was measured against a lower requirement, so the two bars are not like for like: the target moved as well as the supply. The 2026 figure is an interim calculation. No formal position statement has been published since March 2024. Below five years, the presumption in favour of sustainable development, the "tilted balance", applies to housing decisions.
Two things happened at once: the annual requirement rose under the 2024 standard method, and the allocated sites were reassessed downwards.

What the shortfall does to a planning application

This is the part that matters to anyone objecting to a scheme near them. Where a council cannot show five years of supply, the policies in its development plan that are most important for deciding housing applications are treated as out of date. Decision-makers must then apply the presumption in favour of sustainable development in paragraph 11 of the National Planning Policy Framework, the tilted balance.

In practice, permission should normally be granted unless a specific national policy such as Green Belt, heritage, flood risk or designated landscape gives a clear reason to refuse, or the adverse impacts significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits.

The council is explicit about the consequence: recent national changes, including a relaxed approach to the green belt, have “attracted speculative development from developers who are aware that the Council does not have a five year supply”. It is also explicit about the risk of ignoring the position: appeals allowed, decisions found unlawful, and costs awarded against the council.

Non-housing policies on design, heritage, landscape, highways and environment still carry weight. The tilted balance is not a blank cheque, but it moves the starting point.

Old River Lane: 137 days past its deadline

The biggest scheme in the town centre is the redevelopment of Old River Lane, the cleared land and empty offices behind The Causeway. Cityheart’s full application, reference 3/25/1949/FUL, is for:

  • Up to 171 homes, including 48 affordable
  • Community use, retail and commercial floorspace
  • A public square
  • New and improved streets, footpaths and cycle lanes, with parking, landscaping and drainage

The application was received on 15 December 2025 and validated on 24 December 2025. Its determination deadline was 25 March 2026. As of 9 August 2026 the council’s planning register still shows the status as “Awaiting decision”, which is 137 days past the deadline. The file has grown to 164 documents and 53 public comments, and a development management forum was held on the scheme in April 2026.

The site has a long history on the register: a 2022 application to demolish Charringtons House and neighbouring buildings was withdrawn, and an earlier outline scheme for five development plots and up to 225 homes, including 75 extra care units, sits alongside it.

You can read the full application, including every consultee response, on the East Herts planning register.

Where the district’s housing is actually being built

The council’s FAQ names the sites its supply depends on: allocations in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertford and Ware, the garden village extension at Gilston, and the extension to Welwyn Garden City that reaches into East Herts. Two of those are live on the register right now.

Bishop’s Stortford North

The allocation north of the town is in delivery rather than debate. Reserved matters approval 3/25/0485/REM covers parcels D, E, F and G, and four separate condition discharges for estate roads, air source heat pumps, construction parking and fire hydrants were all lodged on 2 July 2026. An earlier approval, 3/24/1142/REM, covered 161 dwellings in parcels R and T1. Watch this if you use Cricket Field Lane or Rye Street: construction traffic conditions are being settled now.

Gilston, near Harlow

The Gilston Area garden villages are the district’s largest commitment, and Villages 1 and 7 are grinding through the condition stage under outline permissions 3/19/1045/OUT (Village 1, Eastwick Road) and 3/19/2124/OUT (Village 7, Church Lane, Hunsdon). Between May and July 2026 the council received discharge applications on the village infrastructure delivery plan, the SuDS strategy, the energy and sustainability strategy, ecology, landscape and management of streets. That is what a garden village looks like from the outside: years of paperwork before a brick.

The council’s own explanation of why supply is hard to accelerate points straight at this. Large allocated sites are “complex to deliver”, held up by policy discussion, section 106 negotiation, land assembly and legal delay.

The new Local Plan

The East Herts District Plan 2018-2033, adopted in 2018, is being replaced. The council is preparing a new Local Plan under the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023, and agreed its Notice of Intent on 10 June 2026, formally starting the process.

  • Scoping consultation: ran 11 June to 10 July 2026, and has closed.
  • Gateway 1 assessment: due October 2026.
  • Overall timetable: a 30-month process, with the new plan running to 2044.
  • The council has secured over £108,000 in government funding to prepare it.

Until that plan is adopted, the tilted balance keeps applying, and the emerging plan carries limited weight. The council is direct about this too: waiting for the plan is “not a defensible reason for refusal”.

Sign-up for the council’s planning newsletter, and the consultation timetable, are on the New Local Plan page.

Hoddesdon, Cheshunt and Waltham Cross are a different council

Worth stating plainly, because it catches people out. The Broxbourne half of this area is governed by a separate authority with a separate plan. The Broxbourne Local Plan 2018-2033 was adopted on 23 June 2020 (Borough of Broxbourne Council), and Broxbourne runs its own planning register. No application in Hoddesdon, Cheshunt, Waltham Cross or Broxbourne will ever appear on the East Herts portal, and the East Herts land supply figures above say nothing about them.

Frequently asked questions

Does East Herts have a five year housing land supply?

No. The council’s April 2026 housing supply FAQ puts the figure at between 3.4 and 3.7 years. The last formal position statement, in March 2024, showed 5.57 years against a lower requirement.

What is the East Herts housing target?

1,223 homes a year under the 2024 standard method. With the 5% buffer required for supply calculations, the working figure is 1,284 a year, or 6,421 over five years.

What does the “tilted balance” mean for my objection?

It means the council’s own housing policies carry less weight, and permission should normally be granted unless a specific national policy gives a clear reason to refuse, or the harm significantly and demonstrably outweighs the benefits. Objections on design, heritage, highways, landscape and environment still count.

What is happening with Old River Lane?

Cityheart’s application for up to 171 homes, community and retail space and a public square, reference 3/25/1949/FUL, is still awaiting decision as of 9 August 2026, more than four months past its 25 March determination deadline.

When will East Herts have a new Local Plan?

The council started the process in June 2026 and describes it as a 30-month programme, with a Gateway 1 assessment due in October 2026 and a plan period running to 2044.

How do I check or comment on a planning application?

Search the East Herts planning register by address, postcode or reference. Applications in Hoddesdon, Cheshunt, Waltham Cross and Broxbourne are on the Broxbourne register instead.

Sources

Planning positions move. The land supply figure is an interim council estimate and will be superseded by the next formal position statement. Application statuses were read from the council’s register on 9 August 2026.