Council say Solihull needs 1,331 new homes every year

Solihull is facing a huge increase in the number of homes it needs to plan for, with the borough's annual housing requirement jumping from 816 to 1,331 homes a year.

The increase means Solihull must plan for 515 additional homes every year compared with the previous figure.

Over the 17-year period covered by the emerging Local Plan, that amounts to 8,755 extra homes.

And the council has admitted finding space for that level of development will be a major challenge.

Councillor Ian Courts, Solihull Council's Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Managed Growth, said the additional number of homes was "very large", comparing it with the size of Knowle and Dorridge.

Where will all the homes go?

That is now one of the biggest questions facing Solihull.

The council is preparing a new Local Plan which will determine where future homes, employment and infrastructure should be located across the borough up to 2043.

The plan is being prepared against a very different national planning backdrop to the one that existed when Solihull's previous plan was drawn up.

The Government's new method for calculating housing need has pushed Solihull's figure up by 63 per cent.

The council says the increase is largely linked to changes to the national standard method, including a much higher affordability adjustment.

In simple terms, areas where homes are more expensive compared with local earnings receive a higher housing requirement.

Green Belt could come under pressure

One of the biggest consequences could be increased pressure on land currently protected as Green Belt.

Solihull Council has said national planning policy now makes it clear that Green Belt land will need to be considered in meeting the new housing need.

The council has also warned that there simply isn't enough suitable brownfield land to accommodate everything.

It says it will continue with a brownfield-first approach, including looking at opportunities in places such as Solihull town centre and the NEC.

But Councillor Courts said those opportunities would not be enough on their own.

The council is therefore also looking at higher-density development in suitable locations and land which could qualify as Grey Belt.

Railway stations could become increasingly important

One of the most interesting consequences for Solihull residents could be what happens around railway stations.

The council has said Government policy gives priority to brownfield and Grey Belt sites in sustainable locations, including areas around train stations and settlements with a full range of services.

That could put locations around Solihull's railway network under greater pressure as planners look for places capable of accommodating new housing.

The council has specifically identified areas such as Balsall Common and Knowle, saying development opportunities closer to transport arteries, motorways, the UK Central Hub and train stations need to be considered.

It does not mean every field beside a railway station will be built on.

But it does show how important transport connections could become when decisions are made about where Solihull's future homes should go.

The council says it cannot simply reject the target

Solihull cannot simply decide that it does not want to meet the new figure.

The council says ministers have made clear that the new housing targets are mandatory and that the borough's eventual Local Plan will be independently examined.

That leaves planners with the difficult task of finding enough land while trying to protect the parts of Solihull that residents value.

The council has also warned that neighbouring authorities face increased housing requirements too, meaning it cannot simply expect other areas to take all of Solihull's additional homes.

Thousands of homes are already in the pipeline

The new target comes as major housing developments are already being proposed or delivered across the borough.

Solihull town centre is set to see one of the biggest transformations, with the redevelopment of Mell Square eventually providing up to 1,600 homes alongside shops, restaurants and public spaces.

Large housing schemes have also been proposed in areas including Shirley, Balsall Common, Hampton-in-Arden and south Solihull.

But even developments of that scale only represent part of the additional housing requirement facing the borough.

The council's January 2026 Local Plan consultation documents said around 9,300 additional homes would still need to be identified through the new plan.

What happens next?

Solihull Council held its Issues and Options consultation earlier this year, asking residents and businesses for their views on the future shape of the borough.

The emerging Local Plan will eventually identify where the required housing should go.

That means communities across Solihull could see major changes proposed as the council works through the next stage of the process.

For residents, the key issue is no longer simply whether Solihull needs more homes.

The numbers mean the much bigger question is where those homes will be built.

With the annual requirement now standing at 1,331 homes, Solihull faces a housing challenge that the council itself says will be difficult to accommodate.

And over the next few years, the decisions made through the Local Plan could determine whether those thousands of homes are concentrated in existing urban areas, around transport links, on former Green Belt land – or a combination of all three.