Nottingham Core Housing Market Area

Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA)

Overview

The job of a Strategic Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) is to identify sites that have the potential for residential development. The SHLAA assesses whether and if possible, when housing is likely to be built on a site. Not all sites will be considered possible to develop; some sites will be classed as ‘unsuitable’ and ‘not developable’ at the present time.

The Nottingham Core Housing Market Area SHLAA has been done jointly by the local authorities below. The methodology (see links and documents) contains a map of the study area for this work; which includes the four wards of Hucknall in Ashfield. The Authorities covered by the study are:

  • Ashfield District Council (Hucknall)
  • Broxtowe Borough Council
  • Erewash Borough Council
  • Gedling Borough Council
  • Nottingham City Council
  • Rushcliffe Borough Council

Nottinghamshire County Council is also assisting in the process, including hosting these web pages.

Final 2008 SHLAA Results

All the SHLAA sites are now available online.  This final list was produced once an independent panel had considered the work and the authorities had reviewed all comments.

Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment online

SHLAA Database

A map showing the SHLAA sites,giving access to assessment details for individual sites, can also be found at: www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/nomad/

Frequently Asked Questions

Background documents and useful links:

Authority and Contact Details

Ashfield District Council

Lisa Bell
Planning, Policy and Projects Section
Council Offices
Urban Road
Kirkby-in-Ashfield
Nottinghamshire
NG17 8DA

E-mail: l.bell@ashfield-dc.gov.uk
Tel: 01623 457383

Broxtowe Borough Council

David Lawson
Planning Policy
Broxtowe Borough Council
Council Offices
Foster Avenue
Beeston
Nottingham
NG9 1AB

E-mail: dave.lawson@broxtowe.gov.uk
Tel:0115 917 3452

Erewash Borough Council

Adam Reddish
Planning Policy and Development Team
Erewash Borough Council
Town Hall
Long Eaton
Derbyshire
NG10 1HU

E-mail: adam.reddish@erewash.gov.uk
Tel: 0115 907 2202

Gedling Borough Council

Joanna Gray
Planning Policy
Strategy and Performance
Gedling Borough Council
Civic Centre
Arnot Hill Park
Nottingham Road
Arnold
NG5 6LU

E-mail: joanna.gray@gedling,.gov.uk
Tel: 0115 9013962

Nottingham City Council

David Berry
Planning Policy and Information Team
Environment and Regeneration
Nottingham City Council
Exchange Building North
Smithy Row
Nottingham
NG1 2BS

E-mail: david.berry@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
Tel: 0115 9155484

Nottinghamshire County Council

Richard Cooper
Planning and Sustainability
Communities Department
Nottinghamshire County Council
County Hall
West Bridgford
Nottingham
NG2 7QP

E-mail: richard.cooper@nottscc.gov.uk
Tel: 0115 977 4978

Rushcliffe Borough Council

Phillip Marshall
Planning Policy
Rushcliffe Borough Council
Civic Centre
Pavilion Road
West Bridgford
Nottingham
NG2 5FE

E-mail: pmarshall@rushcliffe.gov.uk
Tel: 0115 914 8568

Frequently Asked Questions

To help understand the work further we have set out answers to some questions

Why have a SHLAA?

The purpose of a SHLAA is to ensure Local Authorities maintain a flexible and responsive supply of housing land as required by Government. A SHLAA is intended to assess if sites are suitable for residential development and, if so, when they are likely to come forward; some will be available now and some in the future.

A SHLAA is designed to determine a five year land supply of ‘deliverable’ sites, a six-ten year supply of ‘developable’ sites and an 11-15 year supply of ‘developable’ sites. Beyond that there will be an indication of other sites or broad locations that may have potential for future growth.

It is important to remember that a SHLAA does not decide whether housing will be built on any particular site. It assesses whether housing might be a suitable use, but any decision on a site is a matter for the District Council to make, by allocating the land in its Local Development Framework and / or  by granting planning permission.

The SHLAA is an ongoing process of assessing the supply of deliverable housing land and so it will be updated annually.

How is a SHLAA done?

Final government guidance on the SHLAA process was published in July 2007. The Nottingham Core Market Area SHLAA methodology has been drawn up in accordance with this guidance.

There are four stages in preparing a SHLAA; described in the methodology.

I.    Site Identification

As a first step, we have to identify all possible housing sites. Large parts of the urban area and surrounding towns and villages have been searched using a range of sources to identify land that could possibly be suitable for housing.

Sites may also be brought to the attention of the partner authorities. A ‘call for sites’ issued by the Authorities through the local press in October 2007 generated a substantial number of sites in the study area. This call has now closed. While sites may be submitted for consideration at any time there has to be a cut off date for sites to be considered as part of each year’s review. You may contact the persons listed below if you have land you wish to be included.

This list will include sites beyond the urban area, usually proposed by landowners, but there is not a general search of those areas made.

II.    Estimating Potential of sites

Next, we have to assess how many houses are likely to be built on each site. This uses the best information available at the time.

III.    Assessment of Sites

A key stage is to assess each site identified against a range of criteria to determine whether sites are likely to be developed. If they are found to be suitable for development then we assess when they are likely to be built. Once this stage has been completed, the findings will be publicised on this web site.

The list of sites will be compiled following :

  1. Survey and assessment of sites carried out by individual local authorities). See methodology for details
  2. Request for comments on the initial findings of the site assessments from Key Stakeholders, e.g. Environment agency, transport authority, House building industry
  3. Site Discussion Panel meets for Sites where agreement cannot be reached over deliverability of site
  4. Final assessment by individual local authorities.

IV.    Identify and Overcome Barriers to Deliverability

Once the Assessment is complete we give consideration to what needs to be done to ensure suitable sites are delivered. This may involve providing infrastructure, or ensuring developers take action to build.

Annual monitoring

The Assessment will be monitored to update information, include new sites. The annual review will also assess whether the identified sites are being brought forward as anticipated.

What is the 'List of Sites'?

The SHLAA produces four lists of sites for each of the partner authorities giving various degrees of ‘deliverability’:

  • An estimate of sites deliverable within five years
  • A six to ten year supply of developable sites together with identified barriers to delivery and when these barriers can be overcome (where known)
  • A similar 11 to 15 year supply of developable sites
  • A list of sites and broad locations where housing is considered ‘unsuitable’ at present.

The fourth list will contained sites that are unsuitable because:

  1. development is constrained (for example  physically (contamination) or for land ownership) and it is not known whether or when that constraint can be overcome.
  2. sites, usually in areas beyond the urban area, are considered not suitable unless a decision is made by the Planning Authorities which changes their status (e.g. making an allocation in a local development framework). These sites are not considered suitable at the present time, and may never be suitable. Nevertheless, they need to be assessed and identified, although no estimate is made of their deliverability.

What is done with the SHLAA?

Evidence to gauge how much housing land is needed.

The SHLAA is an essential part of the ‘evidence base’ that will inform the preparation of the Local Development Frameworks (LDFs) by councils across the Nottingham Core HMA. It will give them a clearer picture of where housing is likely to be built and help ensure that new housing can be accommodated so that greenfield development is minimised.

The SHLAA will indicate whether significant urban extensions are required, in order to meet Regional Planning housing targets, and what scale they are likely to be. The SHLAA will therefore allow the partner authorities to respond in an informed way to the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) to be issued by the Secretary of State later this year and which will include district housing totals. This SHLAA, being done jointly, will assist in producing a co-coordinated approach to assessing the scale of allocations to provide urban extensions across the whole Nottingham Core HMA area.

Evidence to help identify suitable housing sites

The SHLAA will inform the preparation of the Local Development Frameworks (LDFs) by being part of the evidence helping to determine the most suitable locations for housing, along with many other factors such as transport assessments and public consultation. The decisions on allocating specific sites will ultimately be made by the appropriate Councils when preparing their LDFs. This will include a wide ranging consultation and later will be subject to a Public Examination, presided over by an independent government inspector, which ensures that everyone can have a meaningful say and that all views are taken into account.

Understanding the likely change to urban areas

The SHLAA evidence will also help show how existing residential areas may change as a consequence of infilling and redevelopment for housing. This will help frame better policies on infill development and redevelopment for housing. It will also help plan how social services, GP services, education and transport will be managed.

The SHLAA sites include potential Sustainable Urban Extensions for which work was commissioned separately in June 2007. This appraised those areas in terms of their sustainability and deliverability. The results of that study have not affected the assessment of sites in this SHLAA, but will inform later plan-making.

Does the SHLAA decide whether housing is built?

No. The SHLAA is an assessment of whether housing is likely to be built on a site. If a site does not have planning permission and is not in an area where housing would normally be granted permission, it will be classed as ‘unsuitable’.

Any decision to grant planning permission or to allocate a site in its Local Development Framework is a matter for the relevant District Council and will be subject to public consultation.

How are sites included in the assessment?

The SHLAA is an ongoing process of managing a continuous supply of deliverable housing land and so it will be updated annually.

To submit a site to the SHLAA process please download the form below. Sites may be submitted at any time but the deadline for submission of sites to each year's annual monitoring will be 30 March. Sites submitted between now and 30 March 2009 will be included in the 2009 SHLAA review.

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