Where does LandTech get its data?

At LandTech, providing you with high quality (and easy to understand) data is our top priority. We want to make your lives easier – and a big part of that is making sure that you have accurate and up-to-date data at your fingertips.

From ownership to planning policies and even power infrastructure data, LandInsight provides a variety of datasets and information. You may be wondering - “where does LandTech get its data from and how often is it refreshed?” It’s a great question, and one we’re proud to answer. 

Our team of over 60 data experts, engineers and product managers work to ensure we’re not only providing you with the most relevant and reliable datasets to keep you ahead of the competition, but the most up-to-date as well. Below, we’ll break down each dataset available, its source and how often it is updated. 

Maps and Satellite Imagery 

LandInsight’s datasets are overlaid in two ways: Google Maps (road map and satellite) and OS Maps. Both types of map imagery are integrated directly from the source and are refreshed as often as the source updates, which can vary. However, you can feel assured that as soon as Google or Ordnance Survey update their services, so too is the map imagery inside of LandInsight.

Ownership View

Our ownership data is supported digitally through the Land Registry, which is currently available in England and Wales. Therefore, within LandInsight, you’ll have a full view of these two countries. However, it is important to note that full Registers of Scotland data is not available digitally, so we are unable to offer this in our coverage.

Below is a breakdown of the datasets you can expect to see in LandInsight in regards to ownership, and how often they are updated:

• Parcels: HM Land Registry, refreshed every month on the 6th. 
• Ownership Information: HM Land Registry and Companies House, also updated monthly. 
• Addresses: OS AddressBase Plus, refreshed every 4-6 weeks. 

Planning Applications View

The data in our Planning Applications layer currently covers England, Wales, and Scotland. 

• Planning application information: local planning authorities (LPAs), including planning application details and boundaries (where possible). This is refreshed every 24 hours.
  
  
• Planning application boundaries: we source these directly from the planning authorities. 
  
  

• Planning appeals: Planning Inspectorate Appeals Database, updated every 3 months.
  
  
• Significant constraints: See Planning Policy View

Planning Policy View

Our Planning Policy data is available nationally for England, Scotland and Wales (but local data is currently only available for England and Wales) and includes a plethora of information to better understand opportunities in your chosen area.

At a national level we have information on flood zones, listed buildings, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs), Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs), and Ramsar sites. We also have information about areas affected by the current Nutrient Neutrality requirements set by Natural England. 

At a local level we have adopted local planning policy including Green Belt areas, settlement boundaries, housing allocations, conservation areas, Sites of local importance for nature conservation (LINC), Site of Borough importance for nature conservation (BINC), Area of Metropolitan importance for nature conservation, and Local Nature Reserves. 

We also hold relevant local evidence (which supports a local plan but is not policy itself) including Strategic Land Availability Assessments (SHLAAs (for housing land) and SHELAAs (for housing and employment land)) as these documents can give a great insight into what land is being promoted for development in a certain area, and how the council viewed the suitability of each site at the time it was last assessed. 

Adopted Local and National Policy are constantly monitored for changes with any alterations or modifications being digitised and adopted into LandInsight generally within a month.  Each dataset has a date associated with it, this indicates when the layer was last updated. By comparing this date with the date of policy change you should be able to see if any changes to adopted policy have been included or not. 

For emerging policy, including land availability assessments, the frequency of refresh is varied. Our data team monitors any consultation and this information is directly applied within the feature’s layer in LandInsight – and we check monthly for any updates that need to be added. As a general rule, we focus on emerging policy that has reached the Regulation 19 stage (i.e. it’s a final draft of the policy that is ready for submission to the Planning Inspectorate).  

Significant Constraints  

Our significant constraints data includes: 

• Flood zone: Environment Agency Flood Zones 2 and 3, Natural Resources Wales Flood Zones 2 and 3
  
  
• Flood risk: Environment Agency Risk of Flooding from Rivers and the Sea, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) Risk of Flooding from Rivers and the Sea, Natural Resources Wales Risk of Flooding from Rivers and the Sea
  
  
• Conservation Areas: Historic England/Local Authorities/Historic Environment Scotland/Cadw
  
  
• Protected Area: these cover the following:
   
  • SSSIs
  • Sites of local importance for nature conservation (LINC)
  • Site of Borough importance for nature conservation (BINC)
  • Area of Metropolitan importance for nature conservation
  • Local Nature Reserves
  • Wildlife corridors
  • AONB
  • National Nature Reserves
  • Ramsar sites
  • Special Areas of Conservation
  • Special Protected Areas
  • Biosphere Reserves
  • Ancient Woodland
  • Common Land

Natural England/Local Authorities/Natural Resources Wales/Scottish Natural Heritage

• Settlement boundaries and other policy designations: From Adopted Local Plan for each local authority, and Emerging Local Plan (if available)
  
  
• Green Belt: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Improvement Service (Scotland), Local Authorities (Wales)
  
  
• Nutrient Neutrality: Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, Local Planning Authorities 
  
  
• Water Neutrality: Environment Agency, Local Planning Authorities
  
  
• Heritage Land/Listed buildings/Historic Battlefields - Historic England, Cadw, Historic Environment Scotland
  
  
• Rights of way: Local Planning Authorities and other public sources
  
  
• Tree Protection Order: HMLR LLC INSPIRE data, planning.data.gov.uk, local planning authorities, Scottish Government

Regeneration Zones

Our regeneration zones data includes: 

• Area Action Plans: local plans, both adopted and emerging
• Named Regeneration Areas: local plans, both adopted and emerging
  
  

Allocations

Our allocations data includes: 

• Residential Allocations: local plans (adopted and emerging)
• Site Allocations: local plans (adopted and emerging)
  
  

Land Availability Assessments 

Land availability assessments data includes the following:

• SHLAA: local authorities 
• Brownfield Register: Point data: planning.data.gov.uk (sourced and collated from individual local authorities, cleaned by LandTech) and are required to be updated annually
• Polygon data: London Datastore, individual local authorities

Agricultural Land Classification 

Natural England and Natural Resources Wales maintain a classification of how valuable different bits of agricultural land are. The aim of this process is to safeguard the ‘best and most versatile’ (BMV)  agricultural land from development.  Knowing if your site is classified as BMV will be one of the constraints that you should factor into a site feasibility assessment.  This dataset is updated periodically and we will update our record of this accordingly. 

Neighbourhood Plan Areas

Introduced as part of the Localism Act 2011, a neighbourhood plan is a document that sets out planning policies for a local area and can protect local green spaces, encourage better-designed places and bring forward housing that genuinely meets local needs. If designated, a neighbourhood plan comes into force as part of the statutory development plan. Applications for planning permission must be determined in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. There are nearly 3,000 neighbourhood planning areas in England, and 1,146 have reached the stage of formally adopting a plan.

Data sourced from Department for Levelling Up, Homes and Communities (DLUHC), Office for National Statistics, and additional processing and analysis by LandTech. Refreshed quarterly.

Local Planning Authority

• Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) - local authorities, refreshed annually

We also include key information about the status of local planning within each local planning authority.  

The NPPF outlines, in paragraph 11, that there should be a ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’ when making decisions on planning applications. The NPPF sets out (paragraph 11c) that where there is an up-to-date development plan in place, and where the applications accords with that plan, applications should be approved without delay. 

It also states (paragraph 11d) situations where the local development plan can be effectively set aside unless the land is itself protected by the NPPF (e.g. it’s in Green Belt). These situations include: 

• Where the local plan is out of date (i.e. more than five years old); or
• Where the council has achieved delivery of less than 75% of its need in the Housing Delivery Test (or government housing targets); or
• Where the council is unable to demonstrate five years of housing land supply. 
  
  

If a council finds itself in this unfortunate situation, they only have one way to refuse a planning application that does not affect one of the designations that are protected by the NPPF itself (including green belt). That is if they decide that the adverse effects of an approval would ‘significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits’.  

We track information on the age of planning policy (e.g. is the local plan over five years old and is there an emerging plan on course for adoption?) and is updated in LandInsight monthly. Again, each layer has a date associated with it, this indicates when the layer was last updated. By comparing this date with the date of policy change you should be able to see if any changes to adopted policy have been included or not. 

Housing Delivery Test is a national dataset that is published nationally on an annual basis. The most recently published data on Housing Delivery is from 2021, as soon as an updated set of data is released we will be on the case. 

• Presumption in Favour (England only) - sourced from local authorities and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).