We're working on a new draft Sheffield Local Plan that will guide the future of the city by setting out how and where development will take place up to 2039. We're calling it the 'Sheffield Plan' and, once it has been adopted, it will replace the Sheffield Core Strategy (2009) and 'saved' policies in the Sheffield Unitary Development Plan (1998).
You can refer to Adopted Sheffield Local Plan for more information about the Core Strategy and Unitary Development Plan.
Plan submission and public examination
The Draft Sheffield Plan, together with amendments proposed by the City Council, was approved by the Council for submission to the government on 6 September 2023. The Draft Plan was submitted at the Council meeting on 6 October 2023.
A series of public hearings took place from May 2024 to November 2024, where Sheffield residents and businesses had an input. More information on the examination is available on the Sheffield Plan examination page.
Inspectors' recommendations
In February 2025, Government Inspectors delivered their positive initial findings into our ambitious Local Plan.
The letter contained recommendations, including the need to provide more houses. This measure would provide sufficient choice for the future and maximise the number of affordable homes we can deliver.
Inspectors concluded that 38,012 additional homes are needed over the 17-year Plan period to meet the needs of a growing city. This is more than was set out in the Draft Plan we submitted for examination.
Identifying land for housing
We were tasked with identifying land for an additional 3,529 homes. The Government Inspectors also asked us to find an additional 53 hectares of land for employment use. This is to fulfil the Plan's ambition to create tens of thousands of new jobs over the next 15 years and beyond.
We've proposed a shortlist of sites that will meet this need. We've always explored site options with a brownfield first policy; however, all those options have been maximised already. As a result, we've looked at sites within the Green Belt. Further information on the sites can be found by reading the full report and the accompanying technical reports.
The proposals were agreed by Full Council on 14 May 2025. Public consultation on the proposals ran from 29 May 2025 for 6 weeks to 11 July 2025.
Next steps after consultation
Feedback received during the formal consultation period will be passed to the Government Inspectors, who will take them into account. They will not come back to the Council for a decision.
The Inspectors will decide whether the sites are properly justified, are in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework, and are deliverable.
Public hearings
The Inspectors will then use the responses to the consultation to help them to set agendas for public hearings in the autumn. This will provide an opportunity for the detailed issues raised by the public to be fully considered. Anyone seeking a change to the proposed sites may request to appear at the hearings.
Modifications to the Plan
Once the public hearings have ended, the Inspectors will issue their Preliminary Report, which will recommend 'Main Modifications' that are considered necessary to make the Plan sound.
The Main Modifications will be the subject of a further period of public consultation, likely in early 2026. The Council must then make the recommended Main Modifications if they wish to adopt the Plan. Following receipt of the Inspector’s final report, the Plan (including any 'Main Modifications' if applicable) will then come back to Full Council to be considered for adoption. This is expected to be in summer 2026.
Previous consultations
Details on previous consultations are provided here, including:
- 2023 Regulation 19 public consultation on the Publication Draft Local Plan
- Sheffield Plan: Our City, Our Future - Issues and Options 2020
- November 2015 Consultation on the Citywide Options for Growth
A statutory "Regulation 19" public consultation on the Publication Draft Local Plan took place from 9 January 2023 to 20 February 2023.
This consultation was the last public stage before we submitted the Sheffield Plan to central government for independent examination. Full details of all of the documents that formed part of the consultation are available on our Sheffield Plan consultation portal.
A statutory public consultation on the Issues and Options document 2020 took place from Tuesday 1 September until Tuesday 13 October 2020. This is the first stage of preparing the new Sheffield Plan.
The Issues and Options 2020 document outlined the key opportunities and challenges for the city. It also set out some issues and options for consideration.
We had previously consulted on an issues and options document in 2015 (Citywide Options for Growth to 2034). But analysis of the responses to that consultation highlighted that many people were concerned about how much housing development was proposed on Green Belt land.
Economic growth and the provision of new homes are important issues that we need to address in order to plan for the future development of the city. In the Issues and Options document (2020), we asked whether more homes could be built on brownfield land, especially within, or close to, the city centre.
We produced a series of short summary presentations that explained what each section of the document was about.
Additional documents
As part of the Issues and Options consultation, we also asked for comments on some additional documents.
Background documents
The documents below explain technical matters that were referred to in the Issues and Options document:
A separate map and accompanying site schedule are available showing all the sites referred to in the Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA).
Online question and answer sessions
As part of the consultation on the Issues and Options document (2020), we held 3 online sessions where officers from the Sheffield Plan team were available to answer questions. These were held on the 3, 16 and 23 of September 2020.
You can read our responses to the questions asked at each session (as well as answers to any questions submitted to us in writing afterwards).
Issues and Options 2020 - Interim Consultation Report
The interim consultation report summarises the comments that were made on the Issues and Option document. It also provides a summary of who responded to the consultation.
The final consultation report will include the Council’s responses to the comments and suggestions that were made. It will be published alongside the Publication Draft Local Plan in autumn 2021.
We consulted on the ‘Citywide Options for Growth to 2034’ document in 2015. A copy of this document alongside the various supporting documents and background evidence can be viewed below.
The comments made on the 2015 consultation are published in our summary report. These comments have been used to inform the Issues and Options 2020 document, alongside other factors such as revised national planning policies, the declaration of the Climate Emergency and commitment to work towards making Sheffield zero carbon by 2030, and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Other background documents
We also have some background documents published in November 2015 to support the Citywide options for Growth document.
Local Development Scheme
The Local Development Scheme sets out the timetable for producing the new Local Plan (the Sheffield Plan). A revised Local Development Scheme, setting out the steps involved in producing the plan, came into effect on 6 March 2025.
Call for sites
The call for sites consultation took place from 16 December 2019 to 7 February 2020.
Details of the sites that were put forward by landowners and developers through the call for sites are in the Sheffield Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA) map and site schedule.