Housing Delivery Test
The Housing Delivery Test (HDT) was introduced in 2018 by the government and is a measurement carried out by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
Delivering new homes
The HDT is a way for central government to monitor local authorities and other stakeholders in their role in ensuring new homes are delivered. It is composed of the previous three years of housing supply, in comparison to the previous three years of housing requirement.
The HDT is a backward looking measure and does not take into account other aspects of delivery including commencements, proposed housing, or number of planning permissions granted.
Housing figures
Within the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, the most recent HDT assesses the number of homes built between 2020/21 and 2022/23 in comparison to the housing target over the same period of time.
The results showed we delivered 501 dwellings against a target of 840 dwellings, which comprised of 60% of the DLUHC target. Further information on what this means is available in the 2025 Action Plan.
However, it is important to note that these figures were calculated by DLUHC, therefore, do not directly align with our Authority Monitoring Report.
2025 Action Plan
As a consequence of the results of the Housing Delivery Test, we were again required to prepare a HDT Action Plan (HDTAP). The HDTAP sets out the possible reasons for lower levels of delivery and identifies the actions which will be taken to increase and maintain delivery levels.
The latest HDTAP is now available which also includes updates to some of last years actions.
2024 Action Plan
The previous HDTAP was agreed at the Environment, Sustainability, Culture and Sports Committee on Wednesday 12 June 2024.
Up to: Planning policy
Updated: 27 June 2025
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