The available land for housing in Stockport is constrained by land designated as Green Belt outside the main urban area. As a result of this, the council has adopted a "Brownfield First" approach. This approach seeks to enable and optimise delivery on land that has been developed previously, aiming to limit the extent to which it is necessary to release land from the Green Belt to meet development needs.

While new homes need to be delivered, it is important that they are of suitable quality. The homes we live in impact every aspect of our lives: our physical and mental health, how and where we travel, and how we do day-to-day tasks. It is vital, therefore, that new homes contribute to creating sustainable communities. This means they must genuinely reflect the needs of local people, protect and enhance the natural environment and support the local economy. In line with the council's "Brownfield First" approach, the majority of new housing will be delivered on previously developed land. The existing baseline supply is identified in the council's Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA)88, around 90% of which is on brownfield land.

Our SHLAA shows what it is considered possible to build over the plan period on sites that may be suitable for development in the future and on sites that already have planning permission. This has been informed by other work which analyses the potential of areas and sets out how land might be used effectively to meet our need for new homes whilst respecting the character of the locality. This can be seen in the Stockport Character and Urban Density studies and, in Stockport Town Centre, in our Town Centre Residential Design Guide and Strategic Regeneration Frameworks for Town Centre West (the area originally covered by the Stockport Town Centre Mayoral Development Corporation) and Town Centre East (the area which it is proposed to extend the Mayoral Dev Corporation to cover).

The overall figure which this process identifies, including existing permissions and allowances for delivery of 8,000 homes (gross) in the town centre, in district centres and for ‘small sites’ totals 15,519. This leaves a shortfall against housing need of 16,798.

The NPPF sets out that changes to Green Belt boundaries would require there to be exceptional circumstances, which includes an inability to meet housing need. Consequently, the council has been required to consider development of land in the Green Belt.

The council has undertaken a full assessment of the Green Belt, including the identification of previously developed and grey belt land. A further site selection process has then been followed, which has identified suitable sites on which 8,734 additional homes might be delivered.

Details of the sites which are allocated for housing development are set out in policies HOM 2a and 2b.