Stockport's government-ordered Local Plan goes public this autumn: 25,371 homes to 2042, 8,965 on Green Belt, plus Weir Mill opening and Hatters Yard.

The biggest planning story in Stockport is not any single tower or estate. It is the new Local Plan, the document that will decide where roughly 25,000 new homes go across the borough between now and 2042, and the unusual fact hanging over it: Stockport is writing this plan under direct orders from the Government, with deadlines set by a minister. The final draft goes out for public comment this autumn, and that consultation is the last formal chance for residents to influence it before it is submitted for examination. Here is where the plan stands, the numbers inside it, and what is actually being built in the meantime.

A plan written under Government direction

Stockport’s current planning rulebook is old: a Core Strategy adopted in March 2011, backed by saved policies from a 2006 Unitary Development Plan (Stockport Council Local Development Scheme). The reason is well known locally: on 3 December 2020 the full council voted 35 to 26 to pull out of Greater Manchester’s joint spatial framework over Green Belt concerns (council record), leaving the other nine boroughs to adopt Places for Everyone while Stockport went its own way, and then repeatedly delayed its own replacement.

In September 2025 the Government ran out of patience. The housing and planning minister issued a formal intervention direction requiring Stockport to consult on a draft plan by Christmas 2025 and submit a final plan by the end of November 2026, noting that “since 2020, the Council has not progressed to a formal consultation on a new plan” (intervention letter, GOV.UK). The council complied: the draft-plan consultation (the Regulation 18 stage) ran from 6 November to 21 December 2025 (Stockport Local Plan hub). On 1 July 2026 the minister granted a short extension, but kept the intervention in place: the final-draft publication must begin by 1 October 2026 and the plan must be submitted by 31 December 2026 (amended intervention letter, GOV.UK).

The council’s own published timetable now runs: Regulation 19 publication September to November 2026, submission in December 2026, examination in spring 2027, adoption in winter 2027-28 (Local Development Scheme, updated 7 July 2026).

The numbers in the draft plan

The Government’s standard method sets Stockport’s housing need at 1,870 homes a year, which over the 2025 to 2042 plan period is 31,790 homes. The council’s draft does not plan for that full figure. Its own assessment, put to Cabinet in October 2025, proposes 25,371 homes, 80% of the assessed need, on the argument that going further would do more harm to the Green Belt than the extra homes would justify (council topic paper, “Addressing our development needs”).

Where the homes would come from:

  • Around 16,400 from the existing pipeline: sites with permission, identified urban sites, small sites and district centres, including an allowance of nearly 6,900 homes from the up to 8,000 planned in and around the town centre.
  • Around 8,965 homes on 27 Green Belt sites, targeted at what the council calls “grey belt” land. On those released sites, the draft requires at least half the homes to be affordable, and the council says more than 40% of the borough would stay Green Belt if the plan is adopted (council announcement, 5 November 2025).

What it means for you: if a field near you is one of the 27 sites, the autumn publication is the moment to engage. The Regulation 19 stage is narrower than last year’s consultation: it asks whether the plan is sound and legally compliant, not which sites you would prefer, and comments go to the independent inspector who examines the plan. The council runs a Local Plan email list on its Local Plan hub so you are told the day the document goes live. And because the plan deliberately provides for only 80% of assessed need, expect developers to argue at examination that more sites should be added, not fewer.

What is actually being built: the £2bn town centre

While the plan grinds forward, Stockport’s town centre is in the middle of what the Mayoral Development Corporation calls a £2 billion transformation, the largest town centre regeneration in the UK, aiming for 8,000 homes and a million square feet of employment space (Stockport MDC). Two schemes hit milestones this summer:

  • Weir Mill, the Grade II listed cotton mill under the town’s famous viaduct, opens as a neighbourhood of 253 rental homes, 88 of them inside the restored mill, plus 20,000 sq ft of commercial space. Developer Capital&Centric holds its public launch on Saturday 22 August 2026, with the first residents moving in from the end of the month (Stockport MDC).
  • Hatters Yard on Chestergate topped out in July 2026: 148 affordable homes (101 for social rent, 47 rent-to-buy) in a £41 million Great Places scheme, on site since August 2025. With its completed sister scheme Platform on King Street West, it brings 221 affordable town-centre homes (Stockport Council, 21 July 2026).

The commercial side is moving too: insurer Vitality opened its office at 3 Stockport Exchange in July, bringing more than 1,000 employees into the town centre (Stockport Council). That churn of new residents and workers is a large part of why house prices in the borough are rising faster than the England average, and the construction activity feeds directly into the closures tracked on our roadworks page.

Stockport Local Plan timeline to adoption Timeline diagram. November to December 2025: draft plan consultation, completed. September to November 2026: Regulation 19 publication, the final public comment window, must start by 1 October under Government direction. December 2026: submission to the Planning Inspectorate. Spring 2027: examination in public. Winter 2027 to 2028: adoption. The plan proposes 25,371 homes to 2042, of which 8,965 are on 27 Green Belt sites. The Local Plan: five steps to adoption Council timetable of 7 July 2026, under Government intervention deadlines Nov to Dec 2025: draft plan consultation Completed. 25,371 homes proposed to 2042; 8,965 on 27 Green Belt sites. Sep to Nov 2026: final draft published (Regulation 19) Your last formal comment window. Must begin by 1 October under the direction. Dec 2026: submission to Government Ministerial deadline: no later than 31 December 2026. Spring 2027: examination in public An independent inspector tests whether the plan is sound. Winter 2027-28: adoption The plan replaces the 2011 Core Strategy as the borough's rulebook. Sources: Stockport Local Development Scheme (7 July 2026) and the amended ministerial direction of 1 July 2026.
The dark step is the one residents can act on: the Regulation 19 window opens by 1 October 2026.

How to follow and comment on applications

Day-to-day applications carry on regardless of the plan. Stockport’s searchable planning register is the Public Access portal, where every application appears with its documents, and new ones are open for comments during their consultation window. The weekly lists show everything validated or decided each week, from tree works in Heaton Mersey to town-centre conversions. Most applications are decided by officers within eight weeks; larger or contested schemes go to committee, and the papers and webcasts live on the council’s democracy site.

We will update this page when the Regulation 19 publication date is confirmed.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Stockport Local Plan?

The document that will set where development can happen in the borough up to 2042, replacing the 2011 Core Strategy. The draft proposes 25,371 homes, focused on the town centre and urban sites, with 8,965 on Green Belt land (council topic paper).

When can residents comment on the Stockport Local Plan?

The final draft (Regulation 19) is published between September and November 2026, and under the Government’s direction that stage must begin by 1 October 2026. Sign up on the council’s Local Plan page to be notified.

Why is the Government involved in Stockport’s Local Plan?

Because Stockport left Greater Manchester’s joint plan in December 2020 and had not consulted on a replacement since. A ministerial direction of September 2025, amended on 1 July 2026, sets binding deadlines through to submission (GOV.UK).

How many homes will be built on Stockport’s Green Belt?

The draft identifies around 8,965 homes on 27 Green Belt sites, aimed at “grey belt” land, with at least half the homes on those sites required to be affordable. More than 40% of the borough would remain Green Belt (Stockport Council).

What is being built in Stockport town centre now?

The MDC-led £2 billion programme: Weir Mill’s 253 homes open from late August 2026, Hatters Yard’s 148 affordable homes topped out in July, and Vitality brought over 1,000 staff to Stockport Exchange (Stockport MDC; Stockport Council).

How do I object to a planning application in Stockport?

Find the application on the Public Access portal and submit a comment while it is open for consultation; comments must be about planning matters such as design, traffic and amenity.

Sources

All figures were checked against the linked council, GOV.UK and MDC sources on 8 August 2026. Local Plan dates are the council’s published timetable and can move; the ministerial deadlines are fixed unless varied in writing.