Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment
Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessments (HELAA) are studies that form part of the evidence base for the preparation of Local Plans. They help identify potential sites that may be deliverable and developable for new housing, employment and other uses over a period that looks forward over the next 15 years (or the period of the Local Plan).
Local Authorities within the Exeter Housing Market Area have worked together since 2007 to produce a methodology for undertaking the housing element of the HELAA (formally referred to as Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessments (SHLAAs). This 2021 version supersedes previous SHLAA/HELAA methodology updates.
HELAA Methodology
A joint methodology sets out how the HELAA process is undertaken in the sub-region. The current version of the methodology can be found below:
Exeter Housing Market Area HELAA Methodology (May 2021)
Terms of Reference and Constitution
Call for Sites 8 February – 22 March 2021
A Call for Sites was launched by the Council to run from 8 February to 22 March 2021. The Call for Sites provided individuals and organisations with the opportunity to suggest sites to the Council that they thought had the potential to be developed for housing, economic or other uses. Those that submitted a site within the consultation period are currently being processed. Those that are submitted outside the consultation period will still be accepted by the Council and where possible considered.
The development potential of sites put forward during the Call will be assessed by local authority officers and a panel of representatives from the housing and economic development industries. The conclusions will be published in a HELAA. Please note that the HELAA is a technical assessment of sites that could potentially contribute towards the future supply of housing and employment land and other uses. The HELAA therefore does not set planning policy, but provides background evidence on the potential availability of sites. Decisions on site allocations will be made during the process of preparing the Local Plan. The inclusion of sites in a HELAA should not be seen as an intention to allocate these sites for development, or that planning permission will be granted.
You do not have to own a site in order to suggest it for development, but we do ask that you provide us with a copy of the site's Title Plan and Title Deeds (which can be obtained from the Land Registry for a small fee) and that you speak to the landowner before submitting the form.
A site should only be suggested for housing development if it could accommodate at least 5 homes or it measures at least 0.15 hectares. A site should only be suggested for economic development if it measures at least 0.25 hectares or could provide at least 500m2 of floor space. Sites must lie within the area covered by Mid Devon District Council.
You must provide a map at a suitable scale, clearly showing the boundaries of the site and the area suitable for development if different. Please plot the site using the Geographical Information System (GIS) with this form, and / or attach this information. We can accept information in all common file formats (i.e. pdf, .jpg, .shp, .dbf).
Please ensure you have a digital version of Land Registry details of each site, including both Title Register and Title Plan as this will need to be uploaded as part of this process (Please ensure the file name does not include any special characters or spaces).
Submitting details of a site will take at least 30 minutes and you will need to complete the process in one session.
The Call for Sites is now closed however if you wish for a site to be considered by the Council, please contact the Forward Planning Team.
For details on how we'll use this information, please see our privacy notice.
If you had completed the online form during the Call for Sites, a confirmatory email containing a unique reference code was provided. Please use that code when corresponding with the Council about your submission. The Council will contact you once your site has been assessed and the HELAA is published.