The draft Local Plan Review indicates that the proposed housing target for the Plan period is 15,029 dwellings. This includes 2,000 dwellings to fulfil a proportion of Birmingham's unmet need. However, no explanation is given on the basis for the figure of 2,000 dwellings and there does not appear to have been any agreement with Birmingham City Council that this is an acceptable figure. The GBSLEP is currently working on a Housing Market Area agreement for the distribution of Birmingham's unmet need but this is not yet available. Such an agreement has to form part of the Council's work on the draft Local Plan Review. Seeking to proactively address the Birmingham unmet housing need as well as the Solihull OAN needs to be a priority - account should be taken of the Government White Paper of 7th February 2017 which will introduce additional requirements for collaborative working between LPAs when identifying sufficient land for housing. The portion of Birmingham's unmet need which is to be met within Solihull needs to be addressed and included within this Local Plan review. This is likely to result in the Council having to identify additional land for housing to meet that need.

Furthermore, Solihull have failed to meet the housing target in the current Local Plan and the draft Local Plan Review must both address this shortfall, provide an appropriate housing target for Solihull MBC and also provide for an agreed proportion of Birmingham's unmet need. Policy P5 as currently drafted will not allow sufficient housing land to come forward in Solihull to meet actual targets.