Brownfield Land Register for Housing Potential in England

20,693 net additional dwellings are identified as having potential on brownfield sites across the city according to the November 2020 register. This dataset is a government-mandated register of previously developed land suitable for housing, maintained by local planning authorities in England. The Government Digital Service publishes the data, which provides a partial picture of potential housing sites, excluding those under construction or not completely brownfield.

Use Cases

• Identify potential housing development sites based on the register of brownfield land.
• Analyze urban land capacity for residential use based on government-mandated local authority assessments.
• Support policy research on housing supply by mapping available brownfield sites.
• Integrate with broader land availability assessments (HELAA) for a more complete planning picture.

Strengths

• Provides a specific, quantified potential for 20,693 net additional dwellings.
• Published under the Open Government Licence, allowing for reuse.
• Available in multiple geospatial formats (WMS, ESRI SHAPE, GEOJSON) for interoperability.

Limitations

• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The register is described as only a partial picture, excluding sites under construction or not completely brownfield.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service

Collection Method

Compiled and maintained by local planning authorities in England as a government requirement.

Time Range

First register published December 2017; most recent cited is from November 2020.

Freshness

The most recent register cited was published in November 2020.

Geography

England, with specific data for a city (likely from the example description).