Blog

After weeks of speculation, the Prime Minister finally announced the scrapping of the northern leg of HS2. But what does this mean for the projects that received planning permission?

It's designed to stop developers attempting to reduce their share of costs for local infrastructure, and affordable housing, when they start new projects. This includes costs across roads, GP surgeries and schools, shared with councils.

With difficulties obtaining planning permission on the Green Belt could Labour's plans for development of the so-called ‘Grey Belt’ provide the land needed to deliver on housing targets in the UK?

Did you know that around 95% of the population live in built up areas? Preventing urban sprawl is an approach taken by the NPPF for sustainable development. Part of the containment process is a policy called settlement boundaries, sometimes known as village envelopes or development limits. Here we look at what these are, why they are (and are not) a good idea.

Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment or in short (SHLAA) is a study which every local authority is required to undertake. It gives an overview of potential development sites within each authorities boundary.

As UK policy shifts back in favour of onshore wind, developers face a new reality: wind speed alone won’t cut it. You need fast, data-driven site sourcing to stay ahead.

In June 2020, the Government announced an update of The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (as amended) (GPDO) in a new 20th Part, allowing for the construction of new flats in airspace on a variety of buildings throughout England.

Valuing development land is both an art and a science. While experienced developers may rely on “instinct”, the most successful land acquisitions are backed by robust valuation methodologies and data analysis.

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 and appraising development land in the UK requires using multiple site sourcing tools, from checking land ownership and planning history to assessing flood risk, environmental constraints, and site boundaries.

Padel court development is booming across the UK, with planning applications up 113% in 2024. At Searchland, we've uncovered nearly 17,000 sites ready for padel investment. Here's where the real opportunity lies for landowners, developers and investors.

The UK’s Clean Power 2030 target—95% low-carbon electricity by the end of the decade - is reshaping the renewable energy landscape. But with grid congestion, planning hurdles, and soaring land competition, sourcing the right sites has never been tougher.

Well things have certainly changed since we wrote this article in early 2024. Not only do we now have a new Labour-led government but some huge changes to energy policy too. We'll keep the old stuff here for preservation and update the story as it develops.

Every public EV charger in the UK, now on your map - powered by Zapmap. Colour-coded by speed, built into sourcing. The first PropTech platform to bring it in.

Searchland now maps the political make-up of every constituency, ward and district across England, Wales and Scotland - so you can read the local political climate before you commit to a site.

Searchland now brings together over 3,000 Neighbourhood Plans across 300+ councils - surfacing hyper-local policy directly on the map, so site risk is visible from the very first click.

What happens after planning approval? This update shows stakeholder comments, objections and real-world site activity, helping you track whether developments are built, stalled or completed.

Searchland’s Planning Tool brings together 23 million+ UK applications into one searchable, filterable, map-based platform - so land and planning teams can quantify authority behaviour, assess risk properly, and move with confidence instead of instinct.

Developers move fastest when data, insight, and decisions live in one place. Searchland’s new appraisal tool delivers exactly that - turning the entire acquisition workflow into a single, seamless motion.