A Housing Land Audit (HLA) is a key document in the planning process that assesses the supply of land available for housing development within a local authority area. It provides a detailed account of the housing sites that are expected to contribute to the supply of new homes over a specific period, typically 5 to 10 years.Purpose of a Housing Land AuditMonitoring Housing Supply: It tracks the progress of housing developments and ensures that there is a sufficient pipeline of land to meet housing demand.Planning Policy Compliance: Helps local authorities and stakeholders assess whether housing targets set in local development plans are being met.Assessing Deliverability: Identifies sites that are immediately available for development and those that may require further planning, infrastructure, or land assembly before they can be built on.Supporting Decision-Making: Provides evidence for planning decisions, appeals, and policy reviews.Key Components of a Housing Land AuditEffective Housing Land Supply: Sites that are expected to be developed within a set period (usually five years) and are free of significant constraints.Constrained Housing Land Supply: Sites with constraints such as legal issues, lack of infrastructure, or landownership problems, making them unlikely to be developed in the short term.Completed Housing Developments: Records the number of houses built within the audit period.Future Housing Land Supply: Includes sites allocated in development plans for housing but not yet in the planning system.Who Uses a Housing Land Audit?Local Authorities – To guide planning policies and ensure sufficient land is available for housing.Developers & Housebuilders – To understand the availability of land and plan future housing developments.Government & Planning Inspectors – To assess whether councils are meeting housing targets.Communities & Stakeholders – To understand where new housing developments may be proposed in their area.

The majority of young adults in the UK were still committed to buying a property in 2023, with one in three wanting to get on the property ladder as soon as possible. Nevertheless, 22 percent of respondents shared that their home buying plans were on hold, while 18 percent admitted that they need more monetary support from family, friends, and lenders. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, house prices have soared, markedly outpacing income growth. Furthermore, interest rates have doubled since 2021, resulting in a substantial increase in the cost of buying a home.

In the UK, the average scheme size of build-to-rent housing in planning as of 2024 was notably larger than the scheme size of completed properties. In the second quarter of the year, projects in planning had an average size of *** units, while for completed projects, this figure amounted to ***. Build-to-rent, or BTR is residential housing, flats or houses, that are built specifically to be rented. They are usually professionally managed and offer longer leasing periods.

Compendium of housing and planning statistics covering most aspects of housing and planning in England

Source agency: Communities and Local Government

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Housing and Planning Statistics

Main planning and housing data.

Source agency: Communities and Local Government

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Housing and Planning Key Facts

Residential building contractors are contingent on the propensity of property developers to invest in new ventures; movements in property prices; government schemes intended to boost the housing supply; and underlying sentiment in the housing market. Industry contractors have endured turbulent operating conditions over the past five years, leading to volatile shifts in revenue and profitability. Revenue is forecast to grow at a compound annual rate of 1% over the five years through 2024-25, reaching £97.4 billion. The pandemic caused a significant drop in output in 2020-21, as restrictions placed on on-site activity and fewer enquiries for new housing units reduced revenue opportunities. Aided by government support for the housing market and the release of pent-up demand, 2021-22 was characterised by a strong rebound in activity, though materials and labour shortages maintained constraints on output. Mounting supply chain disruption and heightened economic uncertainty maintained pressure on output in the following year, though revenue growth was maintained by growth in average selling prices. Interest rate hikes and inflationary pressures led to a more subdued housing market in 2022-23, holding back the number of housing starts and completions during the year. This was followed by a slump in new residential building construction in the following year, as high borrowing costs and uncertain market conditions caused developers to scale back investment plans. Revenue is set to grow by 1.5% in 2024-25, aided by a slight improvement in new orders for residential building construction and an uptick in average selling prices. Revenue is slated to climb at a compound annual rate of 1.5% to reach £105.1 billion over the five years through 2029-30. Housebuilding activity is set to grow in the medium-term, aided by the release of pent-up demand. Nonetheless, significant uncertainty remains, with mortgage rates likely to settle well-above pre-pandemic levels and supply chains remaining fragile. The new government’s pledge to deliver 1.5 million houses during the first five years of parliament will boost demand for industry contractors, though the full impact of this on growth prospects is dependent on the nature and extent of accompanying funding plans.

Over **** of SME house builders in England considered that the planning system was one of the main constraints hindering them from building more homes in 2024. Also ** of respondents considered that the lack of financially viable land was a constraint, while ** percent of English house builders also mentioned the lack of available and viable land as one of their main challenges.

Comprehensive dataset of 71 Low income housing programs in United Kingdom as of July, 2025. Includes verified contact information (email, phone), geocoded addresses, customer ratings, reviews, business categories, and operational details. Perfect for market research, lead generation, competitive analysis, and business intelligence. Download a complimentary sample to evaluate data quality and completeness.

Starts and completions of new build dwellings in the UK, on a quarterly and annual basis, time series data

Boundaries of South Ayrshire land supply sites for housing with a capacity for 4 or more homes. The South Ayrshire Land Supply sites were agreed following an audit meeting between South Ayrshire Council as local planning authority and Homes for Scotland as representatives of the house building industry. The audit meets the requirements of Scottish Planning Policy to monitor the minimum 5-year effective land supply.

This statistic shows the annual sales of social housing from the local authorities in England from 2001 to 2019. In 2015-2016, the number of social housing sales without right to buy was 311. In 2019, this number decreased to 243, while sales via Right to buy scheme decreased to eleven thousand sales.

Gross Additional Homes Provided - (YTD)

*These figures are only verified through the housing monitoring site visits undertaken bi-annually. Full breakdowns of net housing completions and consents are produced six monthly by Planning and Environmental Management and are published on the council website.

The full definition of affordable housing is contained in the National Planning Policy Framework https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-planning-policy-framework/annex-2-glossary.

As of the second quarter of 2024, there were nearly ******* build-to-rent homes in the United Kingdom, the majority of which were apartments in multifamily housing. Additionally, over ****** homes were in construction, and ******* were in planning. Build-to-rent refers to homes that are built specifically for renting rather than for sale. They differentiate from traditional rent homes with their focus on the provision of services, i.e. professional on-site management, shared spaces, work zones, fitness centers. A substantial share of the built-to-rent stock is concentrated in London.

Policy from the Runnymede Borough Council 2001 Local Plan (Saved Policies updated 2007). Designated as Policy HO9, this dataset shows the locations of housing density zones.

The Runnymede Local Plan was adopted in 2001 and sets out our policies for guiding and controlling the way that buildings and land are used and developed in Runnymede.

The 2001 Local Plan will eventually be replaced by the New Local Plan. Information on our progress with the new local plan can be found on the Runnymede Borough Council website.

The 2001 Local Plan was intended to serve up to the end of 2006 but from 28 September 2007, the majority of the policies have now been 'saved' under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and continue to form part of the development plan.

Number of areas designated by the relevant local authority for Neighbourhood Plans

How the figure is calculated:

The figure is a count of communities that have applied and been designated by their local authorities as neighbourhood planning areas: the first legal step in the production of a neighbourhood plan.

Why is this indicator in the business plan?

The Localism Act, which received Royal Assent on November 15 2011, introduced new rights and powers to allow local communities to shape new development by coming together to prepare neighbourhood plans.

Neighbourhood planning can be taken forward by town and parish councils or in unparished areas by neighbourhood forums. An existing or new community group, representative of the area and with at least 21 members can apply and be designated by the local authority as a neighbourhood forum.

Neighbourhood forums and parish councils can use new neighbourhood planning powers to establish policies for the development and use of land in a neighbourhood planning area or to permit the development they want to see without the need for further planning applications. They can decide where new homes and offices should be built and what they should look like. The plan can allocate sites for development, provide general guidelines, and have any number of policies depending what local people want.

The neighbourhood planning process has five stages:

• Designating the neighbourhood area and (in unparished areas) forum.
• Preparing the plan
• Consulting on a draft version (6-weeks pre-submission consultation)
• Independent check of the plan after a further 6 weeks publicity
• Community referendum. If more than 50% voters agree, the plan is made part of the local plan and has legal force

How often is it updated?

Monthly

Where does the data come from?

Data is collected by DCLG from automatic reporting of updates to local authority websites.

What area does the headline figure cover?

England

Are further breakdowns of the data available?

No

What does a change in this indicator show?

We would expect to see the number of areas designated to increase as the figures are cumulative and once an area is designated it does not lose its designation. Since December 2012, we have seen an average of 44 areas designated per month.

Time Lag

Time lag is minimal but there will be an element of lag between the time an area is designated and the point at which a local authority updates their website: from days to weeks.

Next available update

Around first Friday of each month.

Type of Data

Management information

Robustness and data limitations

Numbers are as reported by local authorities and may be higher where authorities have not yet updated websites.

Links to Further Information

"https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/giving-communities-more-power-in-planning-local-development/supporting-pages/neighbourhood-planning%0Ahttp://mycommunityrights.org.uk/neighbourhood-planning/">https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/giving-communities-more-power-in-planning-local-development/supporting-pages/neighbourhood-planning http://mycommunityrights.org.uk/neighbourhood-planning/

Contact Details

CorporatePerformance@communities.gsi.gov.uk