Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA)

This assessment, which is a Government requirement, will aim to identify a wide range of sites that could potentially be used for housing over the coming years.

The requirement to undertake a Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) is set out by Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing (PPS3).  Sites both  within and outside of current settlement boundaries are included in the assessment.

The Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment will list and map sites proposed within West Berkshire that may have potential for housing development.   Most of these sites are submissions from landowners and developers for possible future development potential.  It is important to note that they are not sites allocated for development.  The decisions regarding which sites will actually be allocated will be made in the Local Development Framework documents that will be subject to full public consultation before any decision is made. 

The  SHLAA includes estimates of housing potential on individual sites.  These are not based on detailed designs so should not be assumed as acceptable for the purposes of development control decisions and should not prejudice any decision that may be made on the site at a later date.

A draft document has been prepared with a base date of  March 2008, which will then be regularly monitored and updated. The report, together with schedules and maps can be downloaded on the right.   Comments received from consultation on this document will be considered as part of the ongoing development of the LDF and the evidence base and incorporated, as appropriate, into the first review of the SHLAA. 

Since publication of the Draft SHLAA the Planning Commitments for Housing document and the Five Year Housing Land Supply, which are included in the Appendices to the Draft SHLAA, have been updated.  The Planing Commitments for Housing at March 2009 and the Five Year Housing Land Supply at September 2009, which forms an annex to the Annual Monitoring Report, can be viewed form the links on the right.

Do you have a site that you wish to promote for housing development?

A review of the SHLAA will be undertaken in 2010.  If you have an interest in any land in West Berkshire that you consider may be suitable for future housing development and wish to notify the Council a pro-forma is available from the link below.  This form should be accompanied with a location map indicating the proposed site.