Harborough Local Plan

The Local Planning Authority (LPA) is Harborough District Council (HDC). In the Harborough Local Plan 2011-2031 - Adopted April 2019 (Harborough LP), Houghton is designated a Rural Centre, identified as a focus for rural development, to serve both the settlement itself and the surrounding rural area. The NDP complies with the latest published version of the HLP though it is under review. HDC personnel were consulted during the preparation of the NDP.

HPC has a longstanding and close contact with the HDC lead for Neighbourhood Planning. HDC has organised a series of briefing sessions on topics related to NDPs which have been attended by members of the NPWP. HDC Officers have been consulted regularly for advice during many stages of the NDP process and have consistently provided constructive and timely advice, consulting other colleagues at HDC as necessary.

In 2022 HDC carried out a Strategic Housing and Employment Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) exercise. Under this consultation, all landowners, agents and other stakeholders were invited to submit statements offering details of land in which they have an interest for potential development for housing or employment purposes. HDC gathered this information, assessed the viability of such submissions, and published the result as the SHELAA (2022) A copy of this document is available from the "Evidence Base" in these webpages.