Residential Land Supply: Contested Policy Failure in Declining Land Availability for Housing

Abstract

Planning plays a key role in ensuring the provision of adequate residential land exists for housing development. This paper explores the failure of housing land supply policy in Wales from multiple policy failure perspectives, ultimately identifying three key findings. Firstly, the goal-orientated failure in achieving five-year housing land supply is evident. Secondly, the reasons for failure vary but focus on the ramifications of the calculations and also relationships of planners and housebuilders across the public and private sector. Finally, despite the explanations cited for failure, the need for five-year land supply calculations to facilitate housing provision remains an unquestioned necessity.