Following a recent change in national planning policy the Housing Delivery Test will be published annually by the government. The Housing Delivery Test period covers the previous three financial years; in the case of the 2018 measurement the years are 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18.
In high level terms the Housing Delivery Test compares the net homes delivered over three years to the homes that should have built over the same period (their housing requirement).
For Mid Sussex the result published in February was as follows:
housing requirement from 2015 - 2018: 2,319
housing delivered / completed: 2015 - 2018: 2,555
Housing Delivery Test measurement for 2018: 110%
This is significant because if the Housing Delivery Test does not meet the minimum requirement (100%), developers can have success with achieving planning permission on sites that do not comply with either Local or Neighbourhood Plans because national planning policy housing targets take precedence. So this means Fairfax are likely to pursue their aims of developing Haywards Heath Golf Club through the Site Allocation process.