Housing land supply

Request data on the effective housing land supply and housing completions.

Councils are required to maintain an adequate supply of land for housing. An FOI request can reveal whether enough land is being brought forward and whether completions are meeting local demand.

Dear [AUTHORITY NAME], Please provide the following information: 1. The current effective housing land supply in years, as calculated in the council's most recent housing land audit. 2. The total number of housing completions for [FINANCIAL YEAR e.g. 2024-25], broken down by tenure (private, affordable, social rent). 3. The number of sites with planning permission where development has not yet started, and the total number of units on those sites. I would prefer to receive this as a spreadsheet or CSV if possible. Yours faithfully, [YOUR NAME]
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Who to send it to#

Your local council’s planning or housing strategy team. Find your council on the Commissioner’s directory of Scottish public authorities. You can also send your request through WhatDoTheyKnow, which publishes responses online.

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Tips#

  • Many councils publish annual housing land audits. Check the council website and the Scottish Government’s housing statistics pages before submitting your request.
  • National Planning Framework 4, which replaced Scottish Planning Policy in 2023, requires councils to maintain a deliverable housing land pipeline. If the supply figures are low or falling, this is significant.
  • Sites with planning permission but no construction started are sometimes called “land banking.” The data in item 3 helps identify this.