Solihull has 2.13 years of housing land against a 5-year rule, housing need is up 63% to 1,331 homes a year, and a new draft Local Plan is due autumn 2026.

Solihull’s planning story is unusual and worth understanding if you own a home, want one, or object to what might be built near yours. The borough threw away seven years of plan-making in 2024, is still governed by a plan adopted in 2013, and by its own published arithmetic has barely two years’ worth of developable housing land against the five the rules demand. Here is where things stand, from the council’s own documents.

The plan that was withdrawn

The borough’s statutory development plan is still the Solihull Local Plan adopted on 3 December 2013 (Solihull Council). Its intended replacement, drafted in 2020 and submitted for examination in May 2021, never made it: the examination was paused from March 2023, the inspectors wrote decisively on 4 September 2024, and Full Council voted on 8 October 2024 to withdraw the plan entirely, confirmed in the council’s formal withdrawal notice.

The replacement effort restarted almost immediately. A call for sites ran from November 2024 to January 2025 and drew over 300 sites; an Issues and Options consultation ran from 30 January to 16 March 2026; and the council says the Draft Submission Plan is expected in autumn 2026, with new Green Belt assessments published in July 2026 (emerging Local Plan page). The consultation document works on the plan being adopted in 2028 and running to 2043; treat that as the council’s working assumption rather than a commitment.

The numbers driving everything

Two council-published figures explain why this plan will be harder than the last one.

First, the Government’s revised standard method pushed Solihull’s local housing need up 63%, from 816 to 1,331 homes a year, as the council’s own Issues and Options document sets out.

Second, the council’s five-year land supply statement of March 2025 measures the gap between duty and reality. Against a buffered requirement of 1,390 homes a year (6,946 over five years), it could identify deliverable sites for just 2,963 homes: 2.13 years of supply, a shortfall of 3,983 the council itself grades as “substantial”.

Solihull housing land supply against the five-year requirement Bar chart in two groups. Homes needed per year: previous standard method 816, new standard method 1,331, a 63 percent increase. Five-year position: requirement with buffer 6,946 homes, identified deliverable supply 2,963 homes, which is 2.13 years of supply and a shortfall of 3,983. Source: Solihull Council Issues and Options document and five-year land supply statement, March 2025. The gap the new Local Plan has to close Council-published figures: Issues & Options 2026 and the March 2025 five-year land supply statement Homes needed per year Old standard method 816 New standard method 1,331 (up 63%) The five-year position (March 2025 statement) Required, 5 years 6,946 homes Identified supply 2,963 = 2.13 years shortfall: 3,983 A council that cannot show five years of deliverable housing land loses much of its power to refuse speculative applications: the "tilted balance" in national policy starts favouring the developer. Sources: Solihull Local Plan Review Issues & Options (homes per year); Solihull MBC 5YLS statement, March 2025 (requirement includes 5% buffer; supply graded by the council itself as a "substantial" shortfall).
Two years of land against a five-year rule: the arithmetic that will shape every contested application in the borough until the new plan is adopted.

That 2.13-year figure is not an abstraction. A council without a five-year supply faces national policy’s “tilted balance”, which makes speculative applications, including on green fields, much harder to refuse. It is the backdrop to every major decision the council makes between now and adoption.

Mell Square: the town centre remake is under way

The council bought Mell Square in 2021, appointed Muse as developer in 2023, and the scheme is now moving fast by planning standards, per the council’s own project page: the first planning application was approved in February 2026, phase 1 started on site in June 2026, and on 15 July 2026 the council approved phase 2, “Holbeche Place”, including 228 affordable homes in low-carbon, mansion-block-style apartment buildings delivered with Habiko. Press reporting around the February approval described the wider scheme as a ten-year, roughly 1,600-home reset of the town centre, beginning with demolition of the Mell Square multi-storey car park and around 350 build-to-rent apartments in phase 1.

Arden Cross: the HS2 quarter accelerates

At the other end of the borough, the Arden Cross site around the HS2 Interchange station, 140 hectares earmarked in the council-endorsed masterplan for up to 3,000 homes, 27,000 jobs and 6 million square feet of commercial space (executive summary), got its biggest practical boost in June 2026: HS2 agreed to release its development land earlier than the planned 2030, clearing the way for the first phase, a HealthTech Campus with the University of Warwick and Muse (WMCA, 1 June 2026). The partners put the project’s value at £3.2 billion (ardencross.com). The station construction itself, and what it does to the roads, is covered in our roadworks and travel page.

What it means for you

  • Commenting on the new Local Plan is the highest-leverage moment in the system: once a site is allocated, the argument about the principle of development is effectively over. The Draft Submission Plan expected in autumn 2026 is the document to respond to, via the emerging Local Plan page.
  • The Green Belt question is live again. The council published fresh Green Belt assessments in July 2026; with need up 63% and supply at 2.13 years, village-edge sites at Knowle, Dorridge, Balsall Common and Hampton-in-Arden will be argued over hard. What allocation does to values is a theme of our house prices page.
  • Individual applications carry on every week under the 2013 plan and national policy. Search, track and comment on any of them through the council’s Public Access portal, which publishes a weekly list of newly validated applications.

Frequently asked questions

What happened to the Solihull Local Plan?

The draft plan submitted in 2021 was withdrawn by a Full Council vote on 8 October 2024 after the examining inspectors’ September 2024 letter, leaving the 2013 Local Plan as the statutory plan. A replacement is in preparation: Issues and Options consultation ran early in 2026 and a Draft Submission Plan is expected in autumn 2026.

How many homes does Solihull need to build?

Under the Government’s revised standard method, 1,331 homes a year, up 63% from 816, per the council’s own Issues and Options document. The March 2025 land supply statement works to a buffered 1,390 a year.

Does Solihull have a five-year housing land supply?

No. The council’s March 2025 statement identifies 2.13 years of deliverable supply (2,963 homes against a 6,946 requirement), a shortfall it describes as substantial. That weakens the council’s hand against speculative applications until a new plan is adopted.

What is happening at Mell Square?

Demolition and phase 1 construction started in June 2026 under developer Muse, following planning approval in February 2026; phase 2, Holbeche Place, with 228 affordable homes, was approved on 15 July 2026. Reporting puts the whole town-centre scheme at roughly 1,600 homes over ten years.

What is Arden Cross?

The 140-hectare development site around the HS2 Interchange station: masterplanned for up to 3,000 homes, 27,000 jobs and 6 million sq ft of commercial space, with a University of Warwick HealthTech Campus as the accelerated first phase after HS2 released its land early in June 2026.

How do I object to or support a planning application in Solihull?

Every application is searchable on the council’s Public Access portal, including weekly lists of new applications. Comments can be submitted on any application open for consultation, and carry most weight when they address planning matters: policy, design, highways, amenity.

Sources

Plan stages, supply figures and scheme statuses are as published on 8 August 2026 and will move; check the council’s pages for the live position before relying on them.