Worthing's Local Plan commits to 3,672 homes by 2036, 230 a year, and the council counts 6.3 years of land supply. The sites, the shortfall and the schemes underway.

Worthing adopted its Local Plan on 28 March 2023, and it commits the borough to 3,672 net new homes between 2020 and 2036, an average of 230 a year. That is a small number for a borough of about 111,000 people, and it is small for a reason: Worthing is hemmed in by the sea on one side and the South Downs National Park on the other, so nearly every allocation is a brownfield site inside the existing town. This page sets out where the plan stands, how much land the council says it has, and the schemes that will actually build the homes. For what those homes sell for once they are finished, see Worthing house prices.

The housing target and whether it is being met

The council’s own Five Year Housing Land Supply Position Statement, calculated as at 1 April 2024, does the arithmetic in public:

Diagram of Worthing's five year housing land supply as at April 2024: a requirement of 1,380 homes including a 20 percent buffer against a supply of 1,740 homes, made up of 1,063 commitments, 476 Local Plan allocations, 77 SHLAA sites and 124 windfall, giving a surplus of 360 homes and 6.3 years of supply

  • Target: 3,672 homes, 2020 to 2036, or 230 a year.
  • Completed 2020 to 2024: 961 homes, which is 41 ahead of the 920 the plan required over those four years. Worthing therefore carries no shortfall into the calculation.
  • A 20% buffer applies anyway, because the borough failed the government’s Housing Delivery Test. That lifts the five-year requirement from 1,150 homes to 1,380, or 276 a year.
  • Supply is put at 1,740 homes: 1,063 from sites already committed, 476 from Local Plan allocations without permission yet, 77 from other assessed sites and 124 from a windfall allowance.
  • That is a surplus of 360 homes and, on the council’s own sum, 6.3 years of supply.

Two things worth holding on to. The council describes this position as interim and provisional, with elements still being refined. And a five-year supply is a defence, not an achievement: it is what stops speculative applications on unallocated land succeeding at appeal, which is exactly the argument Worthing has already had over the Goring Gap.

The big allocated sites

Most of the plan’s capacity sits in a handful of brownfield redevelopments, all inside the built-up town:

  • Barrington Road, the former HM Revenues and Customs site (allocation A8): 286 homes. Reserved matters were approved for 287 units and the site has started, with the first dwelling complete at the time of the last count. A separate application on the same site seeks 63 extra-care dwellings, with a resolution to grant permission dating from October 2023 subject to a section 106 agreement.
  • The former gas works, Park Road (allocation A9): 228 homes. Permission was granted in October 2022 for 209 dwellings, and an amended application adding 19 more was approved in June 2024.
  • The former Beales department store site: 54 homes in total, 13 of them already complete, spread across several linked permissions on a complicated town-centre block.

Titnore Way, and the Goring Gap argument behind it

In March 2026 the council agreed to sell the former Caravan and Motorhome Club site north of Titnore Way to Croudace Homes. Contracts were exchanged subject to the developer getting permission for at least 134 homes, of which at least 35 would be affordable rent and 11 shared ownership. The 14.3 acres of brownfield land had sat empty since 2023.

The council was explicit about why that site matters beyond its own numbers: allocating it for housing was, in its words, one of the reasons it was able to fight off a scheme for 475 homes on the Goring Gap at Chatsmore Farm. That is the trade Worthing’s plan keeps making, brownfield capacity in exchange for holding the line on the remaining green gaps between the town and Ferring.

Croudace said in March that it hoped to submit an application in the coming months and expected roughly two years of construction once approved. Note that the council leader quoted in that announcement, Councillor Sophie Cox, is no longer in post: the May 2026 election left no single party in overall control of Worthing Borough Council, and Councillor Caroline Baxter now leads it.

The £49m care centre that cannot open

The largest building Worthing has put up this decade is the Worthing Integrated Care Centre at Stoke Abbott Road, intended as the first centre of its kind in Sussex with a range of NHS services on one site. It is substantially complete and it still cannot be handed over.

Repeated testing has found traces of legionella in the water system, most recently two months after the contractor, Galliford Try, said it had eradicated it. In June 2026 the council’s joint strategic committee was asked to add just over £2.4m to the budget, taking the total to £48.945m. Construction began in March 2022 with a budget of just under £34m and a completion date of December 2023. The council says it will not accept handover until the system is demonstrably safe, and is pursuing legal remedies to recover costs.

What is next

Two processes will shape the next round of decisions. The council has started work on a Worthing masterplan, intended to set out where the opportunities are and how it will attract investment, alongside the Pride in Worthing programme announced in July 2026. And the government’s local government reorganisation in Sussex hangs over everything: a decision on new unitary councils for West Sussex was delayed in July 2026, which leaves Worthing Borough Council’s own future, and with it the authorship of the next Local Plan, unresolved.

Meanwhile the council is inviting expressions of interest on two of its own sites: the West Buildings Shelter on the promenade, a locally listed heritage asset about 500 metres west of the pier where an earlier restaurant scheme failed to progress, with first-round submissions open until 20 September 2026; and land at Brooklands Park. The council’s other seafront capital works, from the pier repair to the new groynes, are covered on our roadworks and travel page.

How to check and comment on an application

Worthing shares its planning service with Adur, so the register covers both boroughs. Search it at planning.adur-worthing.gov.uk, where you can browse the weekly list of validated applications, read the officer’s report and submit a comment. Worthing addresses are the BN11 to BN14 postcodes; BN15 and BN43 results are Adur’s, not ours.

Frequently asked questions

How many new homes does Worthing have to build?

3,672 between 2020 and 2036, an average of 230 a year, under the Local Plan adopted on 28 March 2023.

Does Worthing have a five-year housing land supply?

The council calculated 6.3 years as at 1 April 2024, against a requirement of 1,380 homes including a 20% buffer. It describes that position as interim.

Why does Worthing have a 20% buffer?

Because the borough failed the government’s Housing Delivery Test, which adds 20% to the five-year requirement, lifting it from 1,150 homes to 1,380.

What is happening at Chatsmore Farm and the Goring Gap?

A scheme for 475 homes was resisted, and the council has said allocating brownfield land at Titnore Way for housing helped it make that case. The Titnore Way site is now being sold to Croudace Homes for at least 134 homes.

When will the Worthing Integrated Care Centre open?

No date has been given. The building is substantially complete but the council will not accept handover while legionella keeps appearing in the water system. The budget has risen to £48.945m against an original £34m.

Sources

Checked against the sources above on 10 August 2026.