The council is writing a new local plan to 2045 and its first consultation shuts at 11.59pm on 31 August 2026. The adopted plan already requires 20,900 homes.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council adopted a new local plan sixteen months ago. It is already writing the next one, and the first chance to comment closes at the end of this month.

That is not as odd as it sounds. The Government has moved councils onto a 30-month plan-making timetable, so the work starts again almost as soon as a plan lands. What it means practically is that the document deciding where houses get built across the East Riding into the 2040s is being scoped right now, and the window shuts on Monday 31 August 2026 at 11.59pm.

The consultation that is open now

The council launched its Local Plan Scoping Consultation on Monday 20 July 2026. It is the earliest formal stage, and the new plan will look ahead to 2045, covering a 15-year development period and eventually replacing the plan adopted in 2025.

The council’s own framing: “We are seeking your views on a range of planning matters presented in our Local Plan Scoping Consultation. This consultation stage presents an early opportunity to get involved and help shape a new local plan for the East Riding.” (East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Emerging Local Plan)

Councillor Nick Coultish, the Cabinet Member for Planning, said: “The local plan plays a key role in shaping developments in our region, and we highly encourage residents share their views throughout the process.” (East Riding of Yorkshire Council, First public consultation for new local plan begins)

Three supporting documents are out with it, and they matter more than the headline:

  • The Draft Local Plan Consultation and Engagement Plan, which sets out how and when you will be asked again.
  • The Draft Site Assessment and Selection Methodology, which is the rulebook the council will use to judge every field and plot put forward by a landowner. If you want to influence which sites survive, this is the document to read.
  • The Draft Infrastructure Delivery Plan Baseline, on roads, schools, health and utilities.

You respond through the online survey at eastriding.gov.uk/localplan. Reference copies are available to read at County Hall in Beverley and Beverley Library during office hours.

What this stage is not. Scoping does not allocate sites and does not set a housing number. Nobody is being told a field near them is going to be built on yet. What is being decided is the method by which that judgement gets made later, which is why the site selection methodology is the one worth twenty minutes of your evening.

The plan that is already in force

Until the new plan is adopted, the East Riding Local Plan Update governs decisions. Its Strategy Document Update and Allocations Document Update were both adopted on 2 April 2025, after an independent planning inspector found the plan sound in December 2024. The plan period runs 2020 to 2039. (East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Local Plan Update)

Its central requirement is at least 20,900 net additional dwellings across the plan period, which works out at roughly 1,100 homes a year. Alongside that it targets an average of 200 new affordable homes a year and 61 pitches for Gypsies and Travellers over the period.

Where those homes are meant to go

The adopted strategy splits the requirement between five tiers of settlement, for the years 2020/21 to 2038/39.

Where the East Riding Local Plan Update puts new homes, 2020 to 2039 Five bars showing dwelling numbers by settlement tier. Principal Towns take 8,695, Towns 5,684, the Major Haltemprice Settlements 3,120, Rural Service Centres and Primary Villages 3,075, and Villages and Countryside 1,500. Two thirds of the new homes go to the towns Dwellings by settlement tier, 2020/21 to 2038/39. Source: East Riding Local Plan Strategy Document Update, adopted April 2025. Principal Towns 8,695 Towns 5,684 Major Haltemprice Settlements 3,120 Rural Service Centres and Primary Villages 3,075 Villages and Countryside 1,500 Inside the Principal Towns tier: Beverley 3,010 · Bridlington 2,850 · Driffield 2,250 · Goole 855 The Towns tier covers Elloughton cum Brough, Hornsea, Howden, Market Weighton, Pocklington, Withernsea and Hedon. The five tiers total 22,074, above the plan's 20,900 minimum.

Two things stand out. Beverley carries the single largest town allocation at 3,010 dwellings, more than Bridlington despite being the smaller town. And Goole is allocated just 855, less than a third of Bridlington’s figure, in a district where Goole recorded more registered house sales last year than anywhere else. Our house prices page shows what that market looks like now.

The five tiers add up to 22,074, above the 20,900 minimum. That headroom is normal in an adopted plan: allocations are set above the floor so that a stalled site does not put the whole requirement out of reach.

Two schemes worth watching

HOW-G at Howden

The largest single development in the district. HOW-G brings roughly 1,800 new homes to land north of Howden town centre, along with a supermarket, a medical centre, a primary school, sports facilities and an expansion of Howdens Joinery’s manufacturing operation.

Its first phase is infrastructure: the £45 million Howden Relief Road, 1.7 kilometres of new 7.3-metre carriageway with four roundabout junctions linking the A614 Thorpe Road to Station Road and taking heavy traffic out of the town centre. It is funded jointly by the developers and the council. Main construction began in summer 2025 and is programmed to run about 29 months, so completion is expected in 2027. (East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Howden Relief Road)

For a town the size of Howden, 1,800 homes is a step change rather than an extension, which is why the relief road came first.

The A164 and Jock’s Lodge

The council’s own £86.9 million rebuild of the A164 between Beverley and Cottingham is a planning story as much as a roads one. Permission was granted in July 2020 and the Compulsory Purchase Order and Side Roads Order were approved in January 2021, which is what allowed the land to be assembled. Main construction started in January 2024 and is due to finish by the end of 2026. (A164 Jock’s Lodge scheme, timescales)

It matters for planning because it unlocks capacity on the corridor the plan leans on hardest: the Beverley to Hull axis, where the Principal Town and Major Haltemprice allocations both sit. What that means week to week is on our roadworks and travel page.

How to follow the record yourself

Planning applications across the district are published on the council’s Public Access portal, which carries a weekly list of newly validated applications along with the officer documents and the consultation deadline for comments. The portal sits on a non-standard address, so search from the council’s own planning pages rather than guessing a URL.

Two things worth knowing before you comment on an individual application:

  • Most applications never reach a committee. They are decided by planning officers under delegated powers. Objections still count, but they are weighed by an officer, not debated in public.
  • The local plan is the stronger lever. Once a site is allocated in an adopted plan, the principle of building there has already been accepted, and a later application is far harder to refuse. That is why the scoping consultation closing on 31 August matters more than any single application currently in the system.

Frequently asked questions

When does the East Riding local plan consultation close?

Monday 31 August 2026 at 11.59pm. It opened on 20 July 2026 and is the scoping stage of a new local plan looking ahead to 2045.

How many new homes does the East Riding have to build?

The adopted plan requires at least 20,900 net additional dwellings between 2020 and 2039, about 1,100 a year, plus an average of 200 affordable homes a year.

When was the current East Riding local plan adopted?

2 April 2025, for both the Strategy Document Update and the Allocations Document Update, after an inspector found the plan sound in December 2024.

How many homes are allocated to Beverley?

3,010 dwellings between 2020/21 and 2038/39, the largest allocation of any single town in the district. Bridlington has 2,850, Driffield 2,250 and Goole 855.

What is the biggest development in the East Riding?

HOW-G at Howden, at around 1,800 homes with a supermarket, medical centre and primary school, preceded by the £45 million Howden Relief Road due to finish in 2027.

How do I comment on a planning application near me?

Search the council’s Public Access portal from the planning pages on eastriding.gov.uk and submit your comments inside the consultation period shown on the application.

Sources

We will update this page when the scoping consultation closes and the council publishes what it heard.

More local information: East Riding house prices, roadworks and travel, Beverley trains to London and things to do across East Yorkshire.