Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA)
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is a set of rules that the government uses to make decisions about planning and development. Paragraph 68 of the NPPF says that local authorities should know how much land is available for housing in their area. To do this, they should carry out a Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA).
A SHLAA is a report that identifies and assesses land that could be used for housing development. It considers factors such as how much land is available, whether it is suitable for housing, and whether it would be economically viable to develop.
The purpose of a SHLAA is to make sure that there is enough land available to meet the housing needs of an area. It can also be used to decide where to build new homes in local plans.
The first SHLAA, published in March 2010, was carried out jointly with Knowsley, Sefton and West Lancashire Council. Updates for Knowsley were conducted in 2011, 2012, 2016, 2022, and 2023
Documents
Call for Sites Exercise
Knowsley Council invites anyone interested in proposing land for new housing development to submit their suggestions the cut-off date for submission is 1 June annually to be considered in the SHLAA for the corresponding year.
The main purpose of the SHLAA is to identify land that could be used for housing and to assess how likely it is to be developed. This helps the council to understand whether there is enough land available to meet the housing needs of the local area.
The SHLAA is not a statement of council policy, it does not allocate land for housing, and it does not signal the start of a new Local Plan. The base date for each SHLAA will be April 1 of the year in which the SHLAA is carried out.
Anyone interested in proposing land for housing development can do so by completing a Call for Sites Form and submitting it to the council. The form should also include a plan of the land that is being proposed. The council will consider all proposals that are submitted, but they will be assessed against planning policy and other relevant planning considerations. Submitting a proposal does not guarantee that the council will include the land in the SHLAA or that the land will be used for housing development.
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Planning Policy Team
Knowsley Council
Huyton Library
Civic Way
Huyton
Knowsley
L36 6GD