Evidence, data and monitoring
4 Third Update - January-February 2021 (SHLAA 4)
Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment and the Local Plan
A fourth version of the SHLAA was published in February 2021 alongside detailed work undertaken for the emerging Local Plan and was renamed the Strategic Land Assessment (SLA). The close relationship of the SLA with the Local Plan meant that it was necessary to maintain a level of consistency and as such involved more in depth site assessment work outside of the remit of previous SHLAAs. This included matters including development impacts and further analysis to determine availability and achievability which resulted in the rejection of more sites than in previous versions.
The inclusion of a site in the SHLAA does not provide any indication of the Council's view of acceptability for future development. Sites considered in the study have been assessed against current local policy constraints some which would currently prevent their development for new homes. The decisions on whether a site will be allocated for future residential development will be taken in the Local Plan which will be subject to several stages of production and public consultation.
The Government requires that all Councils aim to ensure that there is a five year supply of deliverable land. For previous SHLAAs 5-year Housing Land Statements have been produced as an appendix to the main SHLAA document. The latest 5 Year Housing Land Statement also forms part of the evidence base of the emerging Local Plan.