Leamington planning: 3,472 new homes on the Green Belt edge

The single biggest thing happening in Leamington planning is not an application. It is a plan, it is out for its final consultation until 8 September 2026, and it proposes releasing 217 hectares of Green Belt on the town’s northern and eastern edges for 3,472 new homes.

This page sets out what the South Warwickshire Local Plan actually says about Leamington, taken from the councils’ own published documents rather than from summaries of them.

The plan, in one paragraph

Warwick District Council and Stratford-on-Avon District Council are preparing a single joint plan, the South Warwickshire Local Plan (SWLP), covering both districts for the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2050. It will replace Warwick’s existing plan, which runs to 2029, and Stratford’s, which runs to 2031. It reached its Regulation 19 Publication stage, the fourth and final stage of formal public consultation, when both councils approved it on 16 July 2026. Consultation opened on Tuesday 21 July 2026 and closes at 23:59 on Tuesday 8 September 2026. After that it goes to the Secretary of State for independent examination, with the councils working to a government submission deadline of 31 December 2026.

The previous Preferred Options consultation, which ran from 10 January to 7 March 2025, drew more than 22,000 responses. This is the last chance to comment before an inspector takes over.

The numbers Warwick district has to hit

Policy DS.3 is the one that matters. It sets the housing requirement using the government’s May 2025 NPPF Standard Method, and the plan is explicit that there are no exceptional circumstances to justify using anything else.

In the plan’s own words, provision “will be made for a minimum of 54,925 net additional homes” across the two districts. Warwick district’s share is 27,125 homes at 1,085 a year, and the plan is clear these are minimum figures, not ceilings.

The 6,120 already committed are sites that had planning consent or were under construction as at 1 April 2025. Everything else, 21,005 homes, has to be found somewhere. That is the arithmetic that puts Leamington’s Green Belt on the table.

Where Warwick district’s homes are going

Ten large allocations carry most of the district’s growth. Three of them are on Leamington’s edge.

The three Leamington sites

All three are Strategic Growth Locations under Policy DS.2, meaning large-scale allocated growth next to an existing settlement, expected to deliver significant new infrastructure. And all three involve taking land out of the West Midlands Green Belt.

LEA.1, Land to the North (Blackdown)

72 hectares to be released from the Green Belt, carrying a minimum of 1,043 dwellings across roughly 37 hectares, with about 35 hectares of public open space including sports pitches, allotments, a community orchard and play areas.

It also brings a two-form-entry primary school on about 2 hectares, a community hub or local centre, and land safeguarded for the expansion of North Leamington School if secondary capacity requires it. The plan names secondary education capacity at North Leamington School as a key consideration for all growth north of the town.

Two other details matter locally. The site sits within the area of search for a park and ride north of Leamington, so land may need to be safeguarded for it, with joint funding expected from the promoters of this site and Milverton next door. And development will be required to help fund improvements to the A452 corridor between Leamington and Kenilworth, the road our roadworks and travel page identifies as the town’s busiest pressure point.

The plan anticipates delivery in the period 2031/32 to 2041/42, with earlier delivery possible on smaller parcels. Sewerage capacity will need assessing with Severn Trent Water, potentially requiring upgrades at Finham waste water treatment works.

LEA.2, Land to the North (Milverton)

76 hectares released from the Green Belt, a minimum of 974 dwellings across about 38 hectares, and about 38 hectares of public open space, spread across two land parcels.

The plan is unusually direct about the sensitivity here: proposals “will consider their sensitive location having been released from the Green Belt between Kenilworth and Royal Leamington Spa”, and it requires a landscape-led approach. That gap between the two towns is precisely what the Green Belt exists to keep open. Delivery is anticipated 2032 to 2045, the latest of the three.

LEA.3, Land to the East (Lillington)

The largest of the three. 83 hectares, of which 69 are to be released from the Green Belt, carrying a minimum of 1,455 dwellings across 38 hectares, with 43 hectares of public open space and 14 hectares retained in the Green Belt in the south-east corner.

The open space includes a new Cubbington Community Park, and the plan requires walking and cycling links between Lillington, Cubbington and Newbold Comyn, plus a two-form-entry primary school on 2 hectares and a small local centre. The stated vision is a “landscape-led urban extension to Lillington” that keeps Lillington and Cubbington physically separate. Delivery is anticipated 2031/32 to 2040/41.

One inconsistency worth flagging

The published Regulation 19 draft gives two different housing figures for LEA.3. Its Site Size section and the plan’s own housing trajectory both state a minimum of 1,455 dwellings. But the Key Development and Land Use Requirements table for the same site opens with “the delivery of approximately 915 homes across 38ha, including a 50% affordable housing provision of 458 homes”.

The two cannot both be the site’s capacity. The 1,455 figure is the one that appears in the trajectory that adds up to Warwick district’s 27,125 total, so it is the one the plan’s arithmetic depends on. The 915 figure, with its 50% affordable split, reads like a leftover from an earlier draft of a smaller parcel.

We are flagging it rather than resolving it, because resolving it is exactly what a Regulation 19 consultation is for. If you are responding on Lillington, it is worth asking which number the council intends.

Timetable from here

Responses go through the consultation portal, by email to swlp@warwickdc.gov.uk or by post, and the councils placed printed copies at 19 locations across the two districts.

Checking an individual planning application

The plan is the strategy. For a specific application, an extension next door or a site down the road, Warwick District Council runs an Idox Public Access portal at planningdocuments.warwickdc.gov.uk, where you can search by address or reference and read the weekly lists of newly validated and newly decided applications.

Frequently asked questions

How many new homes are planned for Leamington Spa?

3,472, across three Strategic Growth Locations on the town’s northern and eastern edges: 1,455 at Lillington (LEA.3), 1,043 at Blackdown (LEA.1) and 974 at Milverton (LEA.2). All three figures are stated as minimums.

How much Green Belt would be released around Leamington?

217 hectares across the three sites: 72ha at Blackdown, 76ha at Milverton and 69ha of the 83ha Lillington site. About 14 hectares of the Lillington site would stay in the Green Belt.

What is the housing target for Warwick district?

1,085 homes a year, or 27,125 over the 25 years to 2050, set by Policy DS.3 using the government’s May 2025 NPPF Standard Method. With 6,120 homes already committed as at 1 April 2025, the plan needs to find sites for a further 21,005.

When does the South Warwickshire Local Plan consultation close?

23:59 on Tuesday 8 September 2026. It opened on 21 July 2026 and runs for seven weeks. This is the Regulation 19 Publication stage, the last formal consultation before the plan is submitted for examination.

When would building actually start?

Not soon. The plan anticipates delivery at Blackdown in 2031/32 to 2041/42, at Lillington in 2031/32 to 2040/41 and at Milverton in 2032 to 2045, with earlier delivery possible on smaller parcels within each site. The plan must first be submitted by 31 December 2026 and then found sound by an independent inspector.

Would the new housing come with schools?

The plan requires a two-form-entry primary school on both the Blackdown and Lillington sites, each on about 2 hectares. It also flags secondary capacity at North Leamington School as a key constraint on all growth north of the town, and safeguards land beside the Blackdown site for expanding it if needed.

How do I check a specific planning application in Leamington?

Use Warwick District Council’s Public Access planning portal, which carries application documents, weekly lists of newly validated applications and weekly lists of decisions.

Sources

• South Warwickshire Local Plan, Publication (Regulation 19) draft, July 2026 for Policy DS.3 and its housing figures, the Policy DS.2 list of Strategic Growth Locations, the housing trajectory, and the site requirements for Proposals LEA.1, LEA.2 and LEA.3 including Green Belt release areas, open space, schools, park and ride and delivery periods.
• South Warwickshire Local Plan, Warwick District Council for the consultation dates and the plan’s status as the fourth and final stage of formal engagement.
• Next steps for the South Warwickshire Local Plan, Warwick District Council, 16 July 2026 for the councils’ approval, the 21 July to 8 September consultation window, the 31 December 2026 submission deadline, the 22,000 Preferred Options responses and how to respond.
• South Warwickshire Local Plan consultation portal for the online version of the Publication draft.
• Warwick District Council Public Access planning portal for individual applications and weekly lists.

The South Warwickshire Local Plan is a consultation draft. Nothing in it is adopted policy, site capacities are stated as minimums and can change through examination, and an inspector may require changes before it can be adopted. Checked August 2026.