Wirral's Local Plan wants 14,400 homes by 2040 with no Green Belt release, and the inspectors found land for 11,800. Where they go, and what comes next.

Wirral took 25 years to replace its planning rulebook, and the one it ended up with is unusual: 14,400 new homes by 2040, none of them on the Green Belt. Every allocation sits on previously developed land, most of it along the east bank between Birkenhead and Bromborough. The council believes that is the right answer for a borough where the empty land is the docks rather than the fields.

The problem the plan carries with it is arithmetic. The inspectors who examined it concluded the land Wirral has identified can deliver up to 11,800 homes, about 2,600 short of the requirement they set, and told the council to start reviewing the plan early because of it.

Here is where Wirral’s planning actually stands in August 2026, from the council’s own documents.

The Local Plan, adopted March 2025

Full Council adopted the Wirral Local Plan 2022 to 2040 on 31 March 2025, withdrawing the remaining policies of the Unitary Development Plan that had been in force since February 2000. Planning Inspectors Mike Worden and Tom Bristow examined it over eight weeks of hearings between April and November 2023, and their final report landed on 13 March 2025 (adoption report, Wirral Council).

The inspectors did not wave it through. Their required modifications changed the plan substantially:

  • The plan period moved from 2021 to 2037 out to 2022 to 2040.
  • The housing requirement rose from 13,360 to 14,400 homes, plus 1,149 residential care places for older people, all expressed as minimums rather than targets.
  • A stepped trajectory was inserted: at least 500 net new homes a year from 2022/23 to 2027/28, 850 a year from 2028/29 to 2032/33, and 1,025 a year from 2033/34 to 2039/40.
  • Policy RA2, the Scott’s Quay regeneration area, was deleted over concerns about whether housing east of Birkenhead Road could actually be delivered.
  • A new viability policy was added, and an early review of the whole plan was made a requirement under Policy WS 12.

The reason for that last one is stated plainly in the council’s own report: the plan “has the potential to enable the delivery of up to 14,425 net new homes”, but the council “can only currently demonstrate the ability to deliver up to 11,800” over the plan period.

Brownfield only, and what that means

The spatial strategy is regeneration-led. Development is directed to previously developed land “in areas most in need of social, economic, and environmental renewal along Wirral’s east bank”, including the areas in the Birkenhead 2040 Regeneration Framework. The Green Belt designated in the 2000 UDP is kept.

For most of the peninsula that is the whole story. If you live in Heswall, West Kirby, Greasby or Pensby, the plan is not proposing to build on the fields behind you. If you live in Birkenhead, Seacombe, Rock Ferry or Bromborough, it is proposing to build a great deal, on land that is currently docks, gasworks and cleared industrial sites.

Is it working? The first three years

The council published its first Authority Monitoring Report since adoption, covering 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2025. Against a stepped requirement of 500 homes a year:

Year Homes completed Requirement
2022/23 707 500
2023/24 510 500
2024/25 599 500

That is 1,816 dwellings completed over three years and a net increase of 1,599 new-build homes, comfortably ahead of the trajectory. The council describes itself as “currently over-delivering” (Authority Monitoring Report 2022/23 to 2024/25).

Wirral homes completed against the stepped Local Plan requirement Column chart comparing homes completed with the Local Plan requirement. In 2022 to 2023, 707 homes were completed against a requirement of 500. In 2023 to 2024, 510 against 500. In 2024 to 2025, 599 against 500. The requirement then steps up to 850 a year from 2028 to 2029 and 1,025 a year from 2033 to 2034, neither of which has yet been tested. Wirral is ahead of its housing target, but the target doubles Net homes completed against the stepped Local Plan requirement. Source: Wirral Council Authority Monitoring Report 2022/23 to 2024/25 and Local Plan Appendix 4. 0 250 500 750 1,000 707 2022/23 510 2023/24 599 2024/25 850 from 2028/29 1,025 from 2033/34 Homes completed Local Plan requirement for that year

The land supply position is comfortable on the measures the plan was examined against and tighter on the newest one. At 1 April 2025 Wirral had 6.33 years of deliverable housing land with the 10% buffer the plan was tested against, 6.63 years with the 5% buffer in the December 2024 framework, and 5.94 years once the 20% buffer that applies from 1 July 2026 is factored in. The national Housing Delivery Test scored the borough at 99% in 2021, 100% in 2022 and 96% in 2023, with the 2024 result still pending.

The number worth watching is affordable housing. Across the borough, 35.69% of homes delivered in 2022/23 were affordable, 29.38% in 2023/24 and 13.42% in 2024/25. That is a steep drop in a single year.

Hind Street: the biggest thing being built

The largest single scheme on the peninsula is Hind Street Urban Village, on the former town gasworks beside Birkenhead town centre. Outline consent was granted in January 2025 for up to 1,600 homes across 26 hectares, with 633 in the first phase, alongside offices, workspace, shops, a gym, restaurants, a new primary school, hotels and a park.

Nothing can be built until the ground is cleaned. The site is contaminated from its gasworks past, and the council secured £52 million from Homes England and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority for remediation and infrastructure. Clearance began in February 2025, the main remediation contract started in autumn 2025 on a two-year programme, and construction of the first homes is expected from 2027. The council is working with ION Property Developments and contractor John Sisk & Son (Wirral View, February 2025).

If you drive through Birkenhead, the diversions around the town centre are part of this and related regeneration work. Current closures are on our Wirral roadworks page.

What happens next: the Local Plan 2045

The plan adopted in 2025 is already being replaced. National regulations published in March 2026 introduced a new plan-making system, and Wirral has started work on a Wirral Local Plan 2045. The dates so far, from the council’s own page:

  • 3 June to 24 July 2026: Call for Sites, now closed. Anyone could put forward land for housing, employment or community use, whether or not they owned it.
  • 30 June 2026: Notice of Intention to Commence Local Plan Preparation, and the new Local Plan timetable takes effect.
  • 15 July 2026: Notice of Local Plan Scoping Consultation.
  • 28 August 2026: the scoping consultation deadline, extended from its original date.

That last one is the live opportunity. If you want a say in the shape of the next plan, the scoping stage is open for another few weeks and is where the scope of the whole document gets set (Local Plan 2045 latest news, Wirral Council).

The number that will dominate it is the housing requirement. The council’s own monitoring report confirms that Wirral falls into the category in NPPF paragraph 78c: a borough whose adopted annual housing requirement is 80% or less of what the government’s revised standard method now calculates. Place North West reported in June 2026 that the figure rises from 728 to 1,602 homes a year, with the new plan to be submitted for examination by September 2028 and adopted in 2029. If a number in that region survives into the adopted plan, brownfield-only becomes a much harder promise to keep.

Common questions

Has Wirral adopted a Local Plan?

Yes. The Wirral Local Plan 2022 to 2040 was adopted on 31 March 2025, replacing the Unitary Development Plan from February 2000.

How many homes does Wirral have to build?

At least 14,400 by 2040, plus 1,149 residential care places. The requirement is stepped: 500 a year now, rising to 850 from 2028/29 and 1,025 from 2033/34.

Is Wirral building on the Green Belt?

No. Every housing allocation in the adopted plan is on previously developed brownfield land, and the Green Belt from the 2000 plan is retained. That is why the plan attracted national attention when it was approved.

Does Wirral have a five-year housing land supply?

Yes, on every scenario the council has published. It stood at 6.33 years at 1 April 2025 on the plan’s own measure, and 5.94 years once the 20% buffer applying from July 2026 is included.

Where do I look up a planning application in Wirral?

Wirral is not on the Idox system most councils use. Its planning register is a bespoke application at online.wirral.gov.uk/planning, and the weekly lists of received and determined applications are published there.

When can I comment on the next Local Plan?

The scoping consultation for the Wirral Local Plan 2045 closes on 28 August 2026. The Call for Sites stage closed on 24 July 2026.

Sources

Planning positions change with every committee. Check the council’s own documents before relying on any figure here.