Hounslow's Local Plan is still in examination, with 28,800 homes promised by 2041 and a 2,334-home shortfall already banked. Where the building is going.

The planning decisions that shape Chiswick are mostly taken about big sites eight miles away, and that is not an accident of geography. Hounslow’s development capacity is at the Brentford, Hounslow and Heston end of the borough, on old industrial land and post-war estates. Chiswick, built out and Victorian, with conservation areas across Bedford Park, Strand-on-the-Green, Old Chiswick and Grove Park, contributes very little of the borough’s housing supply and gets very little of the disruption. What it does share is the plan that governs both, and that plan is in the middle of its examination right now.

Where the Local Plan has got to

Hounslow submitted its Local Plan 2020-2041 to the Secretary of State in June 2025, and two inspectors, G. Wildgoose and J. Ayres, were appointed on 30 June 2025. Stage 1 hearings ran in January and February 2026. Stage 2 hearings ran from May to July 2026, with the last week held on 1 and 2 July at the Treaty Centre in Hounslow.

The plan is not adopted yet, and will not be for a while. On 16 July 2026 the council published the list of actions the inspectors asked for after that final hearing week, with responses due back by 18 September 2026 (Hounslow Council). Only after that do main modifications, consultation on them and the inspectors’ report follow.

When it is adopted, the plan commits the borough to at least 28,800 new homes by 2041, with a strategic affordable housing target of 50%, of which 70% is expected to be social rented (Hounslow Council).

The number underneath it: 1,782 a year, and a 2,334-home hole

The plan’s housing requirement is not a figure Hounslow chose. It is Policy H1 of the 2021 London Plan, which set the borough a target of 17,820 homes over ten years from 2019, or 1,782 a year.

Hounslow has not hit it in any year since. Its own five-year housing land supply update, published for the examination in March 2026, sets out the record:

Hounslow net housing completions against the London Plan target of 1,782 a year
YearTargetCompletedShortfall
2019-201,7821,130-652
2020-211,7821,497-285
2021-221,7821,674-108
2022-231,7821,200-582
2023-241,7821,175-607
2024-251,7821,682-100
Total10,6928,358-2,334

Those completion figures are lower than the ones the council published only two months earlier, in January 2026. It restated them after finding data problems in its records, and the effect was to increase the accrued shortfall from 1,620 homes to 2,334.

That shortfall does not disappear. Under the approach the council has taken it is added to the next five years, which lifts the effective annual requirement from 1,782 to 2,249 homes a year between April 2025 and March 2030.

Can Hounslow show a five-year land supply? Yes, just

This matters more than it sounds. An authority that cannot demonstrate enough deliverable land loses much of its ability to refuse housing schemes, because the presumption in favour of sustainable development kicks in.

Hounslow says it can. Against a five-year requirement of 11,244 homes including the shortfall, it identifies a deliverable supply of 12,279 homes, which works out at 5.46 years. Calculated the stricter way, with the 5% buffer in the December 2024 version of national policy, the same supply comes to 5.2 years (Five Year Housing Land Supply Position Update, March 2026).

Hounslow housing completions against target, 2019-20 to 2024-25 Bar chart comparing Hounslow's net housing completions with the London Plan target of 1,782 homes a year. In 2019-20, 1,130 homes were completed. In 2020-21, 1,497. In 2021-22, 1,674. In 2022-23, 1,200. In 2023-24, 1,175. In 2024-25, 1,682. The target line of 1,782 sits above every bar, and the cumulative shortfall over the six years is 2,334 homes. Six years, six misses, 2,334 homes short Net completions in the London Borough of Hounslow against the London Plan target of 1,782 a year. Target 1,782 1,130 2019-20 1,497 2020-21 1,674 2021-22 1,200 2022-23 1,175 2023-24 1,682 2024-25 0 The shortfall is carried forward, so the requirement for 2025 to 2030 is 2,249 homes a year, not 1,782.
Completions restated by the council in March 2026 after it found errors in the earlier figures. The revision made the gap bigger, not smaller.

The developers’ argument at the hearings

Housebuilders have used the examination to press for a higher number. In a written statement for the Matter 10 hearing in April 2026, planning consultants Quod, acting for St James Group, asked the inspectors to consider whether the London Plan’s 1,782 a year should be replaced by the government’s standard method figure of 2,052 a year.

Their sharper point is about the later years of the plan. Hounslow’s updated housing trajectory assumes an average of 1,524 homes a year from 2030 to 2041, below both the London Plan figure and the standard method. Quod argues that is not a positively prepared plan, and notes that the Mayor of London has confirmed the London Plan paragraph the council relies on for that lower residual figure is “now considered out of date”, and has advised Hounslow to roll its current targets forward beyond 2029/30, including the accrued shortfall (Matter 10 written statement, April 2026).

The inspectors have not ruled. If they side with the objectors, the borough’s annual target rises by several hundred homes a year, and the sites to take them have to come from somewhere.

The schemes actually being built

182 council homes at Charlton House and Albany House, Brentford. Approved by cabinet on 17 March 2026, after 87% of residents on the estate voted for it in a ballot. All 182 are for council rent, more than 30% designed as larger family homes, with new ground-floor commercial space and over 2,500 square metres of green space. The council was completing the procurement of a main contractor, with construction expected to start on site in September 2026 (Hounslow Council).

Up to 900 homes at Convent Way, Heston. At the same meeting the cabinet approved progression towards a scheme of around 900 homes on the Convent Way estate. Both sit inside a wider council commitment to deliver 1,000 new council homes across the borough.

Almost nothing major in Chiswick. The council publishes a weekly pending decisions list broken down by area, and the Chiswick Area section repeatedly records “None” under major applications: it did so for the weeks of 17 April, 8 May and several others through spring 2026. What comes through Chiswick is householder work, shopfronts and change of use, not towers.

How to check an application near you

Hounslow is not on the Idox planning portal that most councils use, which is why searches that work elsewhere fail here. Its register is run by NEC Software Solutions at planningandbuilding.hounslow.gov.uk, reached from the council’s own planning decisions page. The weekly pending decisions lists, split by area, are published as documents on the same site, and are the quickest way to see what is live near you without knowing a reference number.

Frequently asked questions

Has Hounslow’s Local Plan been adopted?

Not yet. It was submitted in June 2025 and is still in examination. Stage 2 hearings finished in July 2026, and the council has until 18 September 2026 to answer the actions the inspectors set after them. Main modifications, a further consultation and the inspectors’ report all come after that.

How many homes will Hounslow have to build?

The submitted plan commits to at least 28,800 homes by 2041. The annual requirement it uses is 1,782, taken from the 2021 London Plan. Objectors at the examination want that replaced with the government’s standard method figure of 2,052 a year.

Does Hounslow have a five-year housing land supply?

Yes, on the council’s own March 2026 assessment: 12,279 deliverable homes against a requirement of 11,244, which is 5.46 years. Applying the 5% buffer in the December 2024 version of national policy gives 5.2 years.

Why is Hounslow’s housing shortfall 2,334 homes?

Because the borough completed 8,358 homes between April 2019 and March 2025 against a cumulative target of 10,692. The council restated its own completion figures in March 2026 after finding data problems, which increased the shortfall from 1,620 to 2,334.

Are there any big developments planned in Chiswick?

Not currently. The council’s weekly pending decisions lists show no major applications in the Chiswick area through spring 2026. The borough’s large schemes are in Brentford, Hounslow and Heston, where the developable land is.

Where do I search Hounslow planning applications?

At planningandbuilding.hounslow.gov.uk, which runs on NEC Software Solutions rather than the Idox system used by most London boroughs. Links to it and to the weekly decision lists are on the council’s planning decisions page.

Related

Sources

The examination is live and these figures are the ones before the inspectors, not a final position. Check the council’s Local Plan pages for the current status before relying on any of it.