What are SHLAAs and other land availability assessments?
Understand the local planning authority assessments to identify opportunities as early as possible
It is a requirement for local planning authorities to produce strategic land assessments to identify parcels of land that could be developed for residential and economic uses.
Below are the meanings of the different assessments used by local authorities. While they are all very similar, some focus purely on housing (SHLAA), while others also include economic development land. The purpose of these assessments is to help local authorities understand which land may be available and suitable to meet future development needs.
SHLAA – Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment
Identifies the future supply of land that is suitable, available, and achievable for housing development.
HELAA – Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment
Identifies the future supply of land that is suitable, available, and achievable for both housing and economic development uses.
SHELAA – Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment
Identifies the future supply of land that is suitable, available, and achievable for both housing and economic development uses.
SLAA – Strategic Land Availability Assessment
Identifies the future supply of land suitable to help meet a local authority's development needs.
JHLAS – Joint Housing Land Availability Study
A requirement for every local planning authority in Wales to undertake annually. It monitors the supply of land that is available for housing development.
These assessments can provide some of the earliest visibility of future development opportunities and can be easily identified using the keyword search tool.