The government is using its powers to intervene where local authorities do not have a current local plan

After Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council voted to pause its local plan, on the grounds that they did not have confidence in the capacity of South East Water’s infrastructure to support the significant additional housing numbers required, the government issued a Regulation 19 direction requiring them to put the draft plan out to consultation.  Council Leader Matt Boughton argued that it would be “costly and counterproductive to progress a plan” where the “majority of houses within it cannot actually be delivered”.  South East Water's current water resources management plan was prepared in 2024 and "does not reflect the significant uplift in the objectively assessed housing need that must now be delivered by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council’s draft local plan".  Without additional intervention, housing delivery to meet the assessed need would result in demand exceeding the available water supply.