Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment

The primary purpose of the Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA), which local planning authorities are required to prepare is to:

• identify sites with the potential for housing or employment
• assess how many homes or floorspace they could provide
• assess when they could be developed.

It is a technical document and an important evidence source to inform decision making on future housing and employment development, but does not determine whether a site will be allocated. As required in national policy, it includes a high level strategic overview of the deliverability/developability of each identified/promoted site in terms of its suitability, availability and achievability.

Current consultation - Call for sites (9 October - 20 November 2026)

To support the preparation of a new Local Plan under the new planning system, the council is issuing a call for sites for developers, landowners or other interested parties to identify sites considered to be suitable for future development.

The call for sites closes on Friday 20 November 2026.

More information on the call for sites consultation

Current position on the SHELAA

The most recent version of the SHELAA (due to be renamed as the Land Availability Assessment (LAA) in 2027) can be viewed below. It was published on 28 November 2025. It includes the sites promoted in the 2025 call for sites alongside sites identified previously or via other sources.

The base date for the monitoring information is 1 April 2025.

Use our mapping system to view the sites included in the SHELAA

Documents

SHELAA Report 2025 and Appendix 1(PDF)

Appendix 2 Sites not subject to further assessment(PDF) [4 Mb]

Appendix 3 Housing Allocations(PDF) [656 kb]

Appendix 4a Opportunity Sites in Settlement Policy Boundaries(PDF) [2 Mb]

Appendix 4b Opportunity Sites in Settlement Policy Boundaries not policy compliant(PDF) [4 Mb]

Appendix 5 Sites outside Settlement Policy Boundaries(PDF) [3 Mb]

Appendix 6 Maps(PDF) [5 Mb]