Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment
The purpose of the Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) update is to identify land and buildings in the city with potential for housing development for the 2017-2032 period and to identify and assess limits to delivery.
What is the purpose of the assessment?
The main role of the assessment is to:
- Identify sites and broad locations with potential for housing and economic development
- Assess their development potential
- Assess their suitability for development and the likelihood of development coming forward (availability and achievability).
It should be noted that whilst the SHELAA is an important evidence base to inform plan making, it does not in itself determine whether or not a site should be granted planning permission or allocated for development. The assessment will technically assess as many options as possible for accommodating development, but it is for the Local plan to select the sites that would meet needs and best deliver the spatial vision and meet spatial objectives, by drawing upon the SHLAA and other evidence.
Please note
The SHELAA is not a decision making document and it does not allocate land for development. The judgement over the suitability of a site for development in the SHELAA does not in any way impact the determination of any future planning application on that site.
View SHELAA boundaries
The boundaries of the SHELAA sites can be found on our mapping system on the link below. You will need to click on the quick link 'View maps of the city on our web mapping system'. The SHELAA sites mapping can be found under the 'Planning' heading on the left of the mapping system.
The SHELAA has been produced in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework and National Planning Practice Guidance.
You can find the SHELAA 2017 update and SHELAA site summary - documents below.
Housing delivery test action plan
We have produced a Housing delivery test action plan in response to the 2022 housing delivery test measurement results. This was published on 19 December 2023, as our housing delivery fell below the appropriate threshold when measured against its housing requirement for the relevant period.
The aims of the action plan are to identify the reasons for under-delivery and set out measures we intend to take to improve levels of delivery.