Brownfield register

The Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017, which came into effect on 16 April 2017, requires local authorities to prepare, maintain and publish a register specifically of previously developed land (The Brownfield Land Register).

We published our most recent Brownfield Land Register in December 2022 (using information from the 2022 SHLAA).  The base date of the information is 31 March 2022 and includes sites that had commenced development at that date.

The Brownfield land register is made up of two parts:

  • Part 1 contains a list of brownfield sites which are considered to be suitable for housing
  • Part 2 identifies brownfield sites that have been granted planning permission-in-principle (PiP) for residential development

We've not started work on Part 2 of this register at the current time.

The Brownfield Land Register identifies previously developed land (PDL) in the borough that we've assessed as being appropriate (suitable, available and achievable) for housing development.  It comprises a standard set of information to help developers identify suitable sites for housing development, speeding up the construction of new homes and maximising the number of homes built on brownfield sites. The register has been prepared in accordance with national guidelines regarding the range of site-specific information.

The information to be included in the register is set out in schedule 2 of the regulations. The eligibility criteria for sites to be included on the Brownfield Register is that they must meet the definition of ‘previously developed land’ in the National Planning Policy Framework and be either at least 0.25 hectares in size or capable of providing 5 or more dwellings.  Sites that are part or mixed brownfield land can be included in the Brownfield Register.  Furthermore the sites must be suitable, available and achievable in line with the meaning in Paragraph 2 of regulation 4 of the Regulations.

In order to align with the annual housing monitoring survey, the Brownfield land register uses information contained in our Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA).

The Register includes:

  • All PDL sites in the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) that are more than 0.25 hectares and have been assessed to be suitable, available and achievable; and
  • Small PDL sites less than 0.25 hectares that have an estimated or approved capacity of 5 or more dwellings.

It's important to note that the Brownfield Register sites that do not have planning permission have an indicative dwelling capacity attributed to them.  This indicative capacity is not a site allocation but an estimate based on the same assumptions as are used in the SHLAA for estimating site capacities and may not accord with any future planning permission granted on the site, which would be subject to more detailed assessment through the Development Management process.

The Brownfield Register is available in the formats prescribed by the Government.  An additional Geographical Information System (GIS) layer is also available for download below as a shapefile. 

You can also download our Brownfield Register
 

Sites currently included in the Brownfield Register are also available to view on our interactive map (you'll need to turn on the Brownfield Register in the legend on the left side of the map):

Next steps

The statutory Brownfield Register will be updated on an annual basis. The Brownfield Register will be a joint exercise with the SHLAA update.

We'll also be considering the potential to include sites in Part 2 of the Register which will grant permission in principle for housing led development.

If you have any queries on the details included on the register, please contact the Planning Policy and Programmes Team on:

Tel
01925442826
27 February 2024