Appendix D: Housing requirements for neighbourhood areas within Greater Cambridge

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF, December 2024) requires Local Plans to set out a housing requirement for designated neighbourhood areas which reflects the overall strategy for the pattern and scale of development and any relevant allocations. It also sets out that where a neighbourhood area is designated at a late stage in the strategic policy-making process, or after strategic policies have been adopted, the local planning authority should provide an indicative figure taking into account factors such as the latest evidence of local housing need, the population of the neighbourhood area, and the most recently available planning strategy of the local planning authority. 

The housing requirements for the 27 designated neighbourhood areas within

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

are set out in Figure D1 below. The housing requirement for an individual neighbourhood area has been identified taking account of the overall housing requirement, the development strategy, existing supply and the proposed additional allocations, and the population of the neighbourhood area. 

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF, December 2024) requires Local Plans to set out a housing requirement for designated neighbourhood areas which reflects the overall strategy for the pattern and scale of development and any relevant allocations. It also sets out that where a neighbourhood area is designated at a late stage in the strategic policy-making process, or after strategic policies have been adopted, the local planning authority should provide an indicative figure taking into account factors such as the latest evidence of local housing need, the population of the neighbourhood area, and the most recently available planning strategy of the local planning authority. 

A housing requirement for a new or amended neighbourhood area will be calculated based on: 

• the overall housing requirement in the

  A plan for the future development of a local area, drawn up by the local planning authority in consultation with the community. In law this is described as the development plan documents adopted under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. A local plan can consist of either strategic or non-strategic policies, or a combination of the two.

  : 48,195 dwellings between 2024 and 2045, 
• the population of the neighbourhood area: using the Census 2021 and its proportion of the

  The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

  population of 307,789, and 
• the most recent planning strategy: consisting of the development strategy and housing trajectory in the

  A plan for the future development of a local area, drawn up by the local planning authority in consultation with the community. In law this is described as the development plan documents adopted under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. A local plan can consist of either strategic or non-strategic policies, or a combination of the two.

  that together demonstrate how the overall housing requirement will be met largely through allocations in sustainable locations, therefore leaving a remaining housing requirement of 6,305 dwellings (with no delivery from North East Cambridge) to be met from other sources or through windfall sites. 

The housing requirement will be calculated for 2024-2045 by proportionally splitting the remaining housing requirement on the basis of the neighbourhood area’s proportion of the

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

population. 

For any neighbourhood areas that do not exactly match with a parish boundary or Census output area(s) boundary, a best fit with the available boundary options will be used to calculate the population of the designated neighbourhood area. 

For example, if a new neighbourhood area is designated for the whole of a parish with a population of 1,250 in the Census 2021. This parish has 0.41% of the

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

population, and therefore would have a housing requirement of 0.41% of the remaining housing requirement of 6,305 dwellings, therefore 26 dwellings. 

We will consider all comments while developing the next version of the

A plan for the future development of a local area, drawn up by the local planning authority in consultation with the community. In law this is described as the development plan documents adopted under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. A local plan can consist of either strategic or non-strategic policies, or a combination of the two.

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All comments must be received by 30 January 2026 at 5pm.