What Local Authorities Are Doing to Deliver Quicker, More Robust, and Impactful Outcomes
With housing targets on the rise and planning scrutiny intensifying, many Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) are rethinking their approach to the Call for Sites process. Traditionally a slow, manual, and consultation-heavy task, local authorities are now adopting smarter, data-led strategies to accelerate timelines, improve transparency, and identify higher-quality land opportunities.
So, what does best practice look like in 2025?
At LANDCLAN, we’ve worked with over 10 local authorities in the last year alone to optimise their site identification and assessment processes. Here’s what we’re seeing from the local authorities leading the way.
From Manual to Automated: Site Assessment at Speed and Scale
Best-practice local authorities are embracing automated site scoring, using digital tools that apply planning policies, constraints, and criteria to every site submission – not just the few that planners have time to manually review.
- Result: Faster triage of thousands of submissions in days, not months.
- Bonus: Clear audit trails for each decision, essential when challenged by developers, stakeholders or inspectors.
Local authorities we worked with reduced their Call for Sites to consultation timeline by 90%, using automated data analysis that aligned directly with their Local Plan methodology.
Setting Transparent, Evidence-Based Criteria
Gone are the days of opaque decision-making. Local authorities are now clearly defining the criteria for Suitability, Availability and Achievability upfront and applying them consistently.
Best-practice examples include:
- Having a weighted scoring framework
- Having consistent GIS layers and policies that underpin site selection (e.g. flood risk zones, green belt boundaries, transport nodes).
This builds trust with stakeholders and makes planning officers’ work more defensible.
Looking to their Own Land
Some forward-thinking local authorities are starting inwards, using digital tools to analyse their own land for intensification or surplus value.
In one recent project, a council identified 384 previously overlooked housing opportunities within their estate of 7,048 council owned land-helping to meet housing need without acquiring new land.
This approach:
- Unlocks previously overlooked development options
- Informs asset management strategy
Seamless Integration Between Policy and Practice
Best-practice local authorities are bridging the gap between planning policy teams and development management by ensuring site assessment tools are:
- Policy-responsive (automatically reflect local or national policy changes)
- Cross-functional (usable by both policy and development teams)
- Interoperable (compatible with ArcGIS, Excel, and national datasets)
This avoids rework, reduces friction, and creates a joined-up, future-proofed system.
Thinking Beyond Housing
While the Call for Sites has traditionally focused on housing land supply, local authorities are now taking a multi-outcome approach, encouraging submissions that meet:
- Employment land demand
- Renewable energy infrastructure needs
- Biodiversity Net Gain offsetting opportunities
- Community-led development
This not only strengthens the Local Plan but opens new pathways for sustainable place-making.
The Takeaway
The Call for Sites is more than a statutory process it’s an opportunity. Local Authorities that modernise how they collect, assess, and prioritise sites are not only saving time, they’re unlocking better outcomes for their communities.
Whether it’s achieving housing targets, managing public land more strategically, or creating a more transparent planning process data-led site assessment is changing the game.
Interested in best practice for your council?
LANDCLAN works with local authorities across the UK to:
- Automate site selection and scoring
- Identify developable land within council ownership
- Support transparent, policy-aligned Local Plan reviews
Let’s talk about how we can help – Schedule a call today.