How housing sites get allocated
From a landowner's call-for-sites form to a site allocation policy on the adopted policies map: the full process, the evidence behind it, and why being in a SHLAA is not the same as being allocated.
A SHLAA site is not an allocated site
The Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA), now usually a Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA), is evidence. It identifies land that could be developed and estimates how many homes and when. It does not decide whether land should be developed. That decision is made through the Local Plan, when some assessed sites are chosen as allocations.
The difference matters. Being in a SHLAA does not give land planning status, and sites with no realistic prospect of allocation can still appear in one. On our map, every site carries its category, the source document and the date it was checked.
The six kinds of site on our map
Adopted allocation
Allocated for housing in an adopted development plan. The principle of development is established.
Proposed allocation
In an emerging plan. Its weight depends on the plan's stage and on objections.
Has planning permission
Assessed site that the council's layer shows as having planning permission.
SHLAA / HELAA site
Assessed for potential. Not an allocation and not a planning permission.
Discounted site
Assessed and rejected, with the council's stated reasons.
Brownfield register
Previously developed land on the council's published brownfield land register.
The site allocation process in 10 steps
The steps apply under both plan-making systems, though the consultation stages are named differently. See how they fit the plan timetable →
Set the housing requirement and spatial strategy
Before choosing sites, the plan settles how many homes are needed and broadly where they should go: which towns and villages grow, whether there is a new settlement or urban extension, and how much comes from brownfield land.
- Local housing need comes from the government's standard method (based on 0.8% of existing housing stock, adjusted upwards for affordability).
- Where a spatial development strategy covers the area, the housing requirement is set at that strategic level and is not re-tested at the local plan examination.
- A settlement hierarchy ranks places by services and transport, guiding where growth is most sustainable.
Call for sites
The council invites landowners, developers and promoters to put forward land. Submissions usually need a red-line boundary, ownership details, the proposed use and capacity, and when the site could come forward.
Promoter tip Submit a complete red line, evidence of ownership or an option agreement, and an honest delivery timetable. Incomplete submissions are often screened out.
Land availability assessment (SHLAA / HELAA)
Every candidate site, plus land the council finds itself, is assessed using the national methodology in Planning Practice Guidance. The output is a long list of sites with an estimated capacity and an estimated timescale.
- Suitable: is the location appropriate, given policy, physical constraints (flood risk, access, contamination) and impacts (landscape, heritage, nature)?
- Available: is there a willing landowner and no legal or ownership problem preventing development?
- Achievable: is there a reasonable prospect the homes will be built, considering market demand, cost and viability?
- Sites are then classed as deliverable (homes within five years), developable (later in the plan period) or not currently developable.
Site selection and the evidence tests
The long list is narrowed to preferred sites. Each must be justified against reasonable alternatives, and the reasons for rejecting sites must be recorded.
- Sustainability appraisal / environmental assessment compares reasonable alternative sites and strategies.
- Flood risk: the sequential test steers development to the lowest-risk land first, using the Strategic Flood Risk Assessment.
- Green Belt: boundaries can only be changed through a plan. National policy prefers previously developed land and lower-performing 'grey belt' land; check the Framework's Green Belt chapter for the current tests.
- Infrastructure: schools, health, roads and utilities, set out in an infrastructure delivery plan.
- Viability: whole-plan viability testing makes sure policy costs (affordable housing, standards, contributions) still allow sites to be built.
- Protected areas: National Landscapes, National Parks, SSSIs, habitats sites and heritage assets.
Small and medium sites
The August 2026 Framework (Policy HO6) expects at least 10% of a plan's housing requirement to be met on sites under 1 hectare, and a further 10% on sites between 1 and 2.5 hectares. Small sites tend to build out faster, which helps land supply.
Promoter tip Smaller sites below the strategic scale can be valuable to a plan precisely because of these targets.
Draft allocations consultation
Preferred sites are published for consultation (Regulation 18 in the legacy system, or the consultation on proposed content before Gateway 2 in the new system). This is often the first time residents see which land is proposed.
Promoter tip Respond with technical evidence on any issue raised: access, drainage, ecology or landscape.
Site allocation policies
Each allocation gets its own policy: the boundary on the policies map, an indicative number of homes, and site-specific requirements such as affordable housing, access points, open space, school land, phasing or a masterplan.
- Capacity is usually expressed as 'approximately' or 'at least' a number of homes.
- Large strategic sites may have trajectories stretching beyond the plan period.
Proposed plan and representations
The proposed (or Regulation 19) plan contains the final list of allocations. Representations now have to be framed around legal compliance and soundness.
Promoter tip Seek a statement of common ground with the council on deliverability and capacity.
Examination
The inspector tests whether the allocations are justified, deliverable and consistent with national policy. Hearings often focus on the housing trajectory and on contested sites.
- Sites can be deleted, reduced, enlarged or added through main modifications.
- If supply looks thin, inspectors may ask for additional sites or earlier review.
Adoption, the policies map and delivery
On adoption, allocations become part of the development plan. Planning applications still follow; an allocation establishes the principle but not the detail.
- Delivery is tracked through the annual monitoring report and the housing trajectory.
- Allocations with clear evidence of homes starting within five years count towards five-year housing land supply.
From allocation to land supply
An allocation only helps a council's five-year housing land supply when there is clear evidence that homes will be completed within five years. A strategic urban extension allocated today may not deliver its first homes for several years, once outline permission, reserved matters, infrastructure and conditions are dealt with.
That is why councils publish a housing trajectory: a year-by-year forecast of completions from each site. Most land supply disputes at appeal are arguments about these forecasts: lead-in times, build-out rates and whether a site with only outline permission or an allocation is genuinely deliverable.
| Site status | Counts in the five-year supply? |
|---|---|
| Detailed permission, or a minor site with permission | Normally yes, unless there is clear evidence homes will not be delivered within five years |
| Outline permission for major development | Only with clear evidence that completions will begin within five years |
| Allocated in a development plan | Only with clear evidence that completions will begin within five years |
| SHLAA / HELAA site only | Rarely; it has no planning status and needs strong evidence |
| Discounted site | No |
What landowners and promoters should do at each stage
| Plan stage | Action |
|---|---|
| Notice / getting ready | Register for consultations. Prepare a site promotion pack: boundary, ownership, access, constraints, capacity, delivery timetable. |
| Call for sites | Submit the site with full information. Check it appears in the land availability assessment and that the council's assessment is right. |
| Evidence and options | Commission technical work on the issues that could rule the site out: access, flood risk, landscape, ecology, heritage. |
| Draft allocations | Support the allocation (or object to omission) with evidence; engage with the parish and the community. |
| Proposed / Reg 19 plan | Make soundness-based representations. Agree a statement of common ground. |
| Examination | Attend hearings; respond to inspector questions about deliverability. |
| Adoption onwards | Progress a planning application in line with the allocation policy; keep the council's trajectory accurate. |
Where the site data comes from
There is no single national list of SHLAA sites and allocations. Councils publish them in GIS layers, open data portals, spreadsheets, PDF appendices and interactive policies maps, using their own references and terminology. The government's Planning Data platform is bringing some of this together (brownfield land registers, local plan timetables and more) but coverage is still incomplete.
Local Plan Monitor collects this authority by authority, keeps the original source link and date, and labels whether a site is shown with its actual boundary or only an approximate point.