Aster Group delivers 38,000 affordable UK homes using Searchland

Aster Group is one of the UK's leading Housing Association (HA) providers of affordable housing, owning and managing over 38,000 homes across southern England. Their focus on sustainable growth and community development makes them a key player in tackling the UK’s housing shortage.

We spoke with Paul Backhouse, Assistant Development Director at Aster Group, about how Searchland plays a key role in their site assessment process.

Challenges before Searchland:

• Slow, manual processes for evaluating sites
  
• Limited access to real-time planning data
  
• Difficulty obtaining up-to-date property market insights

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"The team and I use Searchland to assess new opportunities every day"

For Aster's land and planning team, Searchland has become a key pillar of their daily workflow. When agents send land opportunities, Paul's evaluation process is quick and efficient thanks to Searchland.

“My colleagues and I use Searchland to assess new opportunities every day,” Paul tells us. “When an agent sends me a parcel of land, the first thing I do is open Searchland to start drilling into the data.”

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"We assessed 524 sites using Searchland in April alone"

The Aster team is extremely selective about which sites they pursue, focusing on a specific size range that aligns with their development strategy.

“Site size is critical for us,” Paul explains. “We’re typically looking at plots that can accommodate 40 to 120 units, which usually means at least three acres. With Searchland’s measuring tools, I can instantly check whether a site meets our criteria.”

This ability to quickly filter viable opportunities using our Sourcing Tool helps the team stay focused and efficient—saving hundreds of hours every month.

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"The fastest way to find any information on a planning application is to use Searchland”

In addition to having their own system, Aster’s team now defaults to using Searchland.

"We were using another system before, but Searchland had so many useful features that it made an awful lot of sense to make the switch," explains Paul, "We use the Planning Tool to find complete planning application information instantly".

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Aster plans for 8,500 new affordable homes across southern England with Searchland

Aster Group has ambitious plans to invest £1.9 billion to deliver 8,500 new affordable homes over the next seven years. As they evaluate potential sites and assess their existing land holdings for redevelopment opportunities, Searchland will continue to play a crucial role in their decision-making process.

“Every time I open Searchland, there’s a new feature,” Paul says. “As we continue to grow, having fast access to comprehensive planning data helps us make smarter, faster decisions.”

We're proud to support Aster Group in their mission to provide affordable housing solutions across southern England and look forward to helping them achieve their development goals in the years ahead.

― Quotes from Paul Backhouse, Assistant Development Director, Land & Planning at Aster Group.

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Want to see how Searchland can help you source sites for affordable housing ? Book a demo with our team to see how.