Dartford completed 815 homes in the year to March, above its 790 target. Officers are now discussing a new Local Plan for 2030. Updated November 2026.
Dartford completed 815 new homes in the year to March 2026, beating its Local Plan target for a second year. Council officers are already discussing a replacement plan, with adoption pencilled in for 2030.
The figures are in a report going to the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday 10 November (agenda). The plan adopted in 2024 runs to 2037 and sets a target of an average of 790 or more homes a year.
The report says 815 “does not outweigh shortfalls in previous years of the decade”. Its chart shows why. Completions since 2016/17 ran 1,162, 1,031, 1,013, 540, 606, 540, 738, 674, 814 and 815. By our sum, the five years from 2019/20 to 2023/24 all fell short, and the last seven average 675.
Most of last year’s homes were built outside the Ebbsfleet area. The largest single site was St James Lane Pit, also known as Stone Pit 2. The report says the council faces no government sanctions on housing delivery, and that it can still show enough homes coming over the next five years.
The next Local Plan
Councils must now produce local plans within 30 months under new national rules. The report says these milestones “are being discussed as potentially necessary”:
- first public consultation in summer or autumn 2027
- final plan adopted in 2030, if it passes examination
A new timetable is expected towards the end of 2026. The report lists several things that could change it:
- local government reorganisation, which could mean one plan for a new authority with Gravesham and Medway
- a new Kent and Medway strategy, which will set Dartford’s next housing target
- progress on the Medway, Gravesham and Sevenoaks plans
- a lack of government detail on the later stages of plan-making
- budget and staffing
Why the Green Belt comes up
The government published a new national planning policy framework in August. Officers found “only limited material inconsistency” with Dartford’s plan, but they single out the Green Belt as having changed significantly.
The national policy now lists more types of development as potentially “not inappropriate” in the Green Belt. They include:
- homes or mixed use within reasonable walking distance of a well-connected station
- development where there is an evidenced unmet need
The report compares this with the older wording in Dartford’s own policy. It does not name any site.
Developer money allocated
The report says the council has allocated about £30m of Community Infrastructure Levy since April 2025. That is the charge it collects from developers. It lists these projects:
- a new unit at Darent Valley Hospital
- a major secondary school extension
- two large sports facilities
Three new planning guidance documents are also now in force. They cover houses in multiple occupation, settlements and sustainable locations, and riverside and flood management.
What it means for you
If you want to influence where homes go. The first real chance on the next plan would be the consultation in 2027, if this timetable holds. Nothing is being consulted on now.
If you live near a Green Belt site close to a station. Applications could now cite the new national wording. Watch the planning register for your area.
If you want to watch the debate. The committee meets at 7pm on Tuesday 10 November in Room B12 at the Civic Centre, Home Gardens. Its agenda also includes a town centre update, which says Spital Street is finished apart from snagging and Hythe Street’s main works are due in 2027.
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