Self-build homes

What is brownfield land?

Brownfield land refers to land which has been previously developed on which is no longer in use. Primarily that occupied by a permanent structure. This may include land which was previously used for industrial, commercial or residential activity.

Exclusions from brownfield land staus include land:

• last occupied by agricultural or forestry buildings,
• developed for mineral extraction or landfill waste,
• in built up areas e.g. residential gardens, parks or allotments,
• which has blended into the surrounding landscape.

What are brownfield registers?

In a government scheme, brownfield land registers have been compiled and maintained by each local authority, the registers provide public information about brownfield land that is available locally.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) introduced the cataloguing system to speed up development of derelict and underused land that can be used for new homes, and help sites that are suitable for new housing developments to be easily identified.

Registers include information such as

• Site name
• Coordinates/easting and northing
• Physical size
• Planning status
• Ownership
• Housing estimate/minimum number of homes.

All local authorities that create a local plan hold a register covering their region and those registers became available in 2018.

How do brownfield registers work?

All brownfield sites within a region are included in a local register, whatever their planning status. There will be a subset to that register which will list those sites that the local authority mark with ‘permission in principle’ which will indicate the sites that are suitable for development prior to submitting a planning application. This allows developers to quickly see which land is suitable for housing schemes.

The introduction of brownfield registers supports the Home Building Fund, available from the government, to small, community and custom builders.

Find out more about brownfield registers from GOV.UK.¹

Find out more about permission in principle from GOV.UK².

1. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/brownfield-registers-and-permission-in-principle/brownfield-registers-and-permission-in-principle-frequently-asked-questions#brownfield-registers-an-introduction
2. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/brownfield-registers-and-permission-in-principle/brownfield-registers-and-permission-in-principle-frequently-asked-questions#permission-in-principle-an-introduction