Blog

‍Searchland has a clear mission: to transform the way property professionals source sites. Here's the full story on where we come from and how we're helping developers across the UK.

Connect Claude, ChatGPT, or Microsoft Copilot directly to live UK planning and land data — ownership records, planning history, constraints, live applications - and get sourced answers instead of hallucinated ones. Setup takes about five minutes. No developer needed.

MCP is the new standard letting AI assistants talk to your data. Here's what it means for site assessment, sourcing, and planning appraisals.

Searchland analysis reveals 823,574 potential homes near train stations in England, highlighting where development could be prioritised under proposed NPPF reforms - and how policy shifts could reshape land sourcing strategies.

Major housing schemes now take over 300 days to get planning approval - a 75% increase in a decade - highlighting that delays, not refusals, are the real bottleneck in the UK planning system.

The Renters Reform Bill presents the biggest shake-up England’s private rented sector has seen in decades. Expected to pass in 2025, Build to Rent (BTR) and Private Rented Sector (PRS) developers will need to rethink everything from unit design and management strategies to how they navigate the planning process.

What does a development feasibility study test that a site appraisal can’t? An Oxshott case study shows why four semis beat three detached homes.

What settlement boundaries are, how councils use them under the 2026 NPPF, and how to find infill and exception-site opportunities inside and outside the line.

A 2026 guide for UK data centre developers: source sites faster by evaluating power, planning and ownership data in minutes with Searchland.

HMOs remain one of the UK's highest-yielding property investments, with well-run portfolios delivering 8–12% gross yields. Here's how to source, assess and manage a profitable HMO investment property portfolio in 2026.

Brownfield land is previously developed land, while greenfield has never been built on - but the distinction is more nuanced than it sounds. Here's how the NPPF (2026) treats each, and what it means for site sourcing.

Commercial to residential conversion got easier once Class MA's size and vacancy rules were scrapped in 2024. Here's how the process and costs work now.

Padel court development is booming across the UK, with planning applications up 140% in 2025. At Searchland, we've uncovered nearly 24,300 sites ready for padel investment. Here's where the real opportunity lies for landowners, developers and investors.

How a specialist block agency finds off-market MUFBs: the ownership, leasehold and EPC filters used to source unsplit multi unit freehold blocks.

Sourcing a site is only half the job - the other half is getting a lender comfortable with the numbers. We hosted a webinar with Andrew Fraser, Chief Commercial Officer at Assetz Capital, to break down exactly how an agile lender's credit team assesses a deal, from first read to term sheet.

Article 4 Directions quietly withdraw permitted development rights, and they cover the majority of England's councils. Searchland's Article 4 data is now searchable by restriction type, PD right and use class.

MCP is everywhere right now. But not all connectors are built the same - and in property and planning, the difference shows up fast. Here's what to look for, and how Searchland stacks up.

Proposed NPPF reforms could introduce a “default yes” approach to development near train stations. We’ve analysed 1,000+ locations across England to identify where the biggest opportunities sit - and how to get ahead before policy is finalised.

Sourcing elderly care and care home opportunities just got easier. Searchland’s new Elderly care tool gives Searchland users deep insights into 11,000+ care homes, making area analysis and opportunity spotting faster than ever.

See land value data for any site on Searchland - understand uplift, spot opportunity, and compare values with real context.

Track Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) across England, Wales and Scotland, directly on Searchland's map.

See ECR, DNO and NESO generation data on the map - assess what's already connected before you commit to a site.

See ONS census data - population, age, income and household composition - for any site on Searchland, without leaving the platform.

Ask Searchland what you're looking for in plain language, and let the AI Sourcing Assistant translate that into the right filters and results.