Ufuk Bahar, managing director at Urbanist Architecture, reveals how Searchland has become instrumental in delivering their two core services: thorough site appraisals and successful planning applications.

Urbanist Architecture is a leading multidisciplinary practice of architects and town planners, specialising in securing planning permissions for challenging sites across the UK. The practice partnered with Searchland to enhance their assessment capabilities and strengthen their application success rate. ‍

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Challenges before Searchland:

●  Time-consuming analysis of site potential across multiple planning documents
●  Complex overlay of various planning constraints and policy requirements
●  Need for comprehensive planning policy analysis for applications

"Searchland has accelerated our site analysis capabilities from weeks to days."

As one of the directors of Urbanist Architecture, I sought a tool that could streamline our critical first phase: site assessments. Searchland's interactive features enable us to overlay crucial datasets including green belt boundaries, grey belt opportunities, and site allocations.

The platform expertly consolidates essential data including five-year land supply positions, local plan statuses, and housing delivery test results. This comprehensive view has reduced the time our architects and planners spend researching the development potential of sites from weeks into days. This helpfully allows us to move more efficiently into formulating planning and design strategies.

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‍"Our planning submissions are fortified with precise evidence."

‍The interactive local plan policy tool has transformed our application preparation process. Quick access to overlaid datasets has significantly enhanced our team’s efficiency in preparing submissions.

The platform's clear presentation of complex planning constraints has strengthened our ability to address potential objections proactively. It has reduced our research time by 62%, enabling us to craft more robust planning justifications backed by comprehensive analysis.

‍"We have adapted swiftly to meet changing market demands."‍

While urban regeneration and the use of brownfield land are essential, they alone are not enough to address the UK’s severe housing shortage. To truly tackle this crisis, we need a balanced approach that includes a thoughtful reassessment of the green belt’s role in providing new homes.

We've recently experienced a surge of inquiries from property developers and entrepreneurs planning to build in the green belt, one of the most challenging areas to secure planning permission. This marks a shift from our previous client base, which primarily consisted of green belt landowners exploring their options.

This increased demand stems not only from our firm’s proven track record of building successful cases for very special circumstances for green belt developments but also aligns with the government's commitment to building 1.5 million homes over the next five years.

Our enhanced operational efficiency with Searchland has enabled us to meet this growing demand effectively. Tasks that previously required weeks of research are now completed in days, allowing us to handle multiple projects simultaneously while maintaining our thorough and bespoke approach to each complex green belt project.‍

Quotes from Ufuk Bahar, Managing Director at Urbanist Architecture.

‍Want to see how Searchland can help you carry out thorough site appraisals and help in planning applications? Book a demo with our team to see how.