Strategic Housing Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA)

Our Strategic Housing Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) assesses the amount of land that is available for housing development in the local area.

The role of the SHELAA is to provide information on the range of sites available for development. The assessment does not decide whether a site should be developed, this is still done through the Local Plan or a planning application.

The assessment’s main role is to:

  • identify sites and broad locations with potential for development
  • assess their development potential
  • assess their suitability for development and the likelihood of development coming forward

We last carried out an assessment in 2014. You can read the report from that assessment:

We are now updating our SHELAA to support a review of the Local Plan. This included a consultation on our methodology and a new call for sites process.

It will identify a future supply of developable land which is suitable, available and achievable and may have potential for housing and economic development for the period 2023 to 2038.