Accredited official statistics

Land use change statistics – new residential addresses 2020 to 2021 statisitcal release

Published 27 October 2022

Applies to England

1. Main points

The proportions of new residential addresses created have been broken down by previous land use. In 2020-21:

• 66% of new residential addresses were created on previously developed land. This is an increase of 12 percentage points compared to 2019-20.
• The top 3 previous land use groups on which new residential addresses were created were ‘Residential’ (25%), ‘Vacant land (developed)’ (15%), and ‘Vacant land (non-developed)’ (14%).
• The average density (dwellings within 1 hectare) surrounding newly created residential addresses was 42, an increase of 10 compared to 2019-20.
• 2% of new residential addresses created were within the Green Belt. This is a decrease of 1 percentage point compared to 2019-20.
• 7% of new residential addresses were created within Flood Zone 3 (not accounting for flood defences). This is a decrease of 2 percentage points compared to 2019-20.
• 3% of new residential addresses were created within areas at high and medium risk of flooding from rivers and the sea (after accounting for flood defences). This is a decrease of 1 percentage point compared to 2019-20.

2. Introduction

The Land use change statistics consist of 2 releases, new residential addresses and changes in hectarage.

‘Land Use Change – residential addresses’ provides information on new residential addresses and the previous land use those addresses were created on. Information is also provided on the proportion of new residential addresses located within certain areas of interest such as the Green Belt, Flood Zones and other similar ‘designations’. ‘Addresses created’ for these purposes include new builds and conversions.

‘Land Use Change – hectarage’ provides information on the amount of land changing use from previous use to its new use. These changes are recorded to and from a set of 28 land use categories (see Table A1 below or in the technical notes). Land Use Change – hectarage data up to 2022 is due to be published in the coming months.

The Department also publishes Land use statistics with the release and tables showing the amount of land within each individual land use category at national and local levels. Data is provided to the Department by Ordnance Survey Ltd and is derived from Ordnance Survey’s AddressBase, Open Greenspace and Mastermap Topography products.

3. Context

England has a land area of just over 13,046,000 hectares ^{[footnote 1]} of which about 9% is of developed use, ^{[footnote 2]} with 11% being deemed ‘built-up’. ^{[footnote 3]} When including land designated as Green Belt, just over 37% of the area of England (4.9 million hectares) is protected against development by one or more natural designation. ^{[footnote 4]} Natural designations within this release only include National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).

In addition, there are other designations of interest such as land at risk from flooding, approximately 10% of England’s land area is located within Flood Zone 3 (not accounting for flood defences) with 8% at risk from flooding from rivers and sea (after accounting for flood defences).

Statistical information on these other designations are available within the Green belt statistics publication, specifically the ‘Land designations by LA’ table in the Accompanying tables and within the Green Belt and other designations interactive dashboard.

The Land Use statistics provide a clear distinction between land that is of ‘developed use’ and land that is of ‘non-developed use’ by separating land into 1 of 28 defined land use or land cover categories. Land that is of ‘developed use’ and land that is of ‘non-developed use’ can be broadly associated with the terms ‘brownfield’ and ‘greenfield’ which, although more commonly used, do not have a consistent and specific definition, which limits their usefulness for statistics or analysis. ‘Built-up areas’ are defined as land which is ‘irreversibly urban in character’, meaning that they are characteristic of a town or city. ‘Built-up areas’ are likely to therefore contain a higher proportion of land that is of ‘developed use’ but they will also contain land that is of ‘non-developed use’ such as areas of grassland or residential gardens.

4. Location of new residential addresses

The proportion of new residential addresses that were created on previously developed land was 66% in 2020-21. This is an increase of 12 percentage points compared to 2019-20. These proportions tend to fluctuate from year-to-year, as shown in Figure 1 below, due partly to variations in the location and timing of developments between years.

Figure 1: Proportion of new residential addresses created on previously developed and non-previously developed land, England 2020 to 2021

There was wide variation in the proportion of new residential addresses created on previously developed land between local authorities in England in 2020-21. City of London had the highest proportion averaged over 3 years with 100% of all new addresses being created on previously developed land and Wellingborough had the lowest with 10%.

Map 1: Location and number of new residential addresses, England 2020 to 2021

Each hexagon has a height of 5 kilometres

Map 2: Proportion of new addresses created on previously developed land, England 2018 to 2021

Each hexagon has a height of 5 kilometres

There are 28 land use categories used in Land Use Change Statistics. In 2020-21, the main previous land use groups on which a new residential address was created were:

• Residential, at 25% of new residential addresses created;
• Vacant land (developed), at 15% of new residential addresses created; and,
• Vacant land (non-developed), at 14% of new residential addresses created.

More details are shown in Figure 1. The groups used are as listed in Table A1 in the Definitions section of this release.

Figure 2: Proportion of new residential addresses created on previous land use group, 2020-21

5. Regional breakdown

There was wide variation in the proportion of new residential addresses created on previously developed land between regions in England. In 2020-21, London had the highest proportion with 89% of new residential addresses created on previously developed land, 9 percentage points higher than the North West which had the second highest proportion with 81%. The North East had the lowest proportion with 41%.

Table 1: Proportion of new residential addresses created on land that was previously of developed use, 2020-21

Region	2020-21 (%)	Three year average (%)
ENGLAND	66	59
East Midlands	47	41
East of England	50	49
London	89	88
North East	41	49
North West	81	68
South East	54	47
South West	58	51
West Midlands	54	49
Yorkshire and The Humber	78	65

6. New residential addresses within the Green Belt

The National Planning Policy Framework states the government attaches great importance to Green Belts. The fundamental aim of Green Belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open; the essential characteristics of Green Belts are their openness and their permanence. For further information, please see our Green Belt statistics publication.

The extent of land designated as Green Belt in England as at 31 March 2020 was estimated at 1,615,750 hectares, around 12.4% of the land area of England.

• In 2020-21, 2% of new residential addresses created were within the Green Belt. This is a decrease of 1 percentage point compared to 2019-20.

• In 2020-21, 47% of new residential addresses created within the Green Belt were built on previously developed land. This is an increase of 4 percentage points compared to 2019-20.

• Within the Green Belt ‘Agriculture’ was the previous land use group on which the highest proportion of new residential addresses were created with 26%.

See Live Tables P310 and P311 for more information.

7. New residential addresses within areas at risk of flooding

7.1 Flood Zone 3

Flood Zone 3 is the Environment Agency’s best estimate of the areas of land at risk of flooding, when the presence of flood defences are ignored and covers land with a 1 in 100 (1%) or greater chance of flooding each year from Rivers; or with a 1 in 200 (0.5%) or greater chance of flooding each year from the Sea.

• 7% of new residential addresses were created within Flood Zone 3 (not accounting for flood defences). This is a decrease of 2 percentage points compared to 2019-20.

• 82% of new residential addresses located within Flood Zone 3 were created on previously developed land in 2020-21, an increase of 23 percentage points compared to 2019-20.

• Within Flood Zone 3 ‘Vacant land (developed)’ was the previous land use group on which the highest proportion of new residential addresses were created with 51%.

See Live Tables P320 and P321 for more information.

7.2 Risk of Flooding from Rivers and Sea (RoFRS)

Risk of Flooding from Rivers and Sea (RoFRS) is an assessment of flood risk for England produced using local data and expertise. It shows the chance of flooding from rivers and the sea presented in categories taking account of flood defences and the condition they are in. High risk: each year, there is a chance of flooding of greater than 1 in 30 (3.3%). Medium risk: each year, there is a chance of flooding of between 1 in 30 (3.3%) and 1 in 100 (1%).

• 3% of new residential addresses were created within areas at risk of flooding from rivers and sea (after accounting for flood defences). This is a decrease of 1 percentage point compared to 2019-20.

• 78% of new residential addresses located within areas at risk of flooding from rivers and sea were created on previously developed land in 2020-21, an increase of 18 percentage points compared to 2019-20.

• Within areas at risk of flooding from rivers and sea ‘Residential’ was the previous land use group on which the highest proportion of new residential addresses were created with 37%.

See Live Tables P320 and P321 for more information.

7.3 Risk of Flooding from Surface Water (RoFSW)

Risk of Flooding from Surface Water (RoFSW) assesses flooding scenarios as a result of rainfall with a 1 in 100 (1%) chance of occurring in any given year.

• 2% of new residential addresses were created within areas at risk of flooding from surface water. This is a decrease of 1 percentage point compared to 2019-20.

• 66% of new residential addresses located within areas at risk of flooding from surface water were created on previously developed land in 2020-21, an increase of 5 percentage points compared to 2019-20.

• Within areas at risk of flooding from surface water ‘Vacant land (developed)’ was the previous land use group on which the highest proportion of new residential addresses were created with 24%.

See Live Tables P320 and P321 for more information.

8. Other designations

DLUHC has identified a number of designations that are often considered constraints on development with the statistics providing the amount of land ‘protected’ against development. These other designations do vary but normally include natural designations such as National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). Collectively, these 3 natural designations cover 26% of England’s land area after removing overlaps.

• 2% of new residential addresses were created within the 3 natural designations. This is unchanged from 2019-20.

• 58% of new residential addresses located within the 3 natural designations were created on previously developed land in 2020-21, an increase of 4 percentage points compared to 2019-20.

• Within the 3 natural designations ‘Residential’ was the previous land use group on which the highest proportion of new residential addresses were created with 27%.

See Live Tables P312 and P313 for more information.

9. Density

The residential address statistics can be used to create an estimate of the density of new residential development. This is derived by calculating the density of all residences in the hectare surrounding a newly created residential address. In 2020-21:

• The average density of residential addresses surrounding a newly created residential address was 42 addresses per hectare, an increase of 10 compared to 2019-20.

• The average density surrounding new residential addresses created on previously non-developed land was 23 addresses per hectare, a decrease of 2 compared to 2019-20.

• The average density surrounding new residential addresses created within land designated as Green Belt was 17 addresses per hectare, unchanged from 2019-20.

• The average density surrounding new residential addresses created within Flood Zone 3 was 42 addresses per hectare, a decrease of 4 compared to 2019-20.

See Live Tables P330 and P331 for more information.

Map 3: Average density surrounding new residential addresses, 2018 to 2021

Each hexagon has a height of 5 kilometres

Average number of existing residential addresses within 1 hectare of each new residential address

10. Accompanying tables and open data

10.1 Tables

Accompanying tables are available to download alongside this release.

10.2 Definitions of terms used in this release

National Flood Zone 3

Land assessed as having a 1 in 100 or greater annual probability of river flooding (>1%), or a 1 in 200 or greater annual probability of flooding from the sea (>0.5%) in any year.

Flood Zone 3 ignores the presence of flood defences.

Risk of Flooding from Rivers and Sea (RoFRS)

An assessment of flood risk for England produced using local data and expertise. It shows the chance of flooding from rivers and the sea presented in categories taking account of flood defences and the condition they are in, and describes the suitable uses of the data.

• High risk: each year, there is a chance of flooding of greater than 1 in 30 (3.3%).
• Medium risk: each year, there is a chance of flooding of between 1 in 30 (3.3%) and 1 in 100 (1%).

RoFRS takes account of flood defences and the condition they are in.

Risk of Flooding from Surface Water (RoFSW)

Land assessed for flooding scenarios as a result of rainfall with a 1 in 100 (1%) chance of occurring in any given year.

Natural designations

For the purposes of this statistical release, natural designations has been limited to include National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).

Table A1: Land use and land use change classification table

Previously developed land

Group	Category	Code
Community services	Community buildings	C
Community services	Leisure (indoor)	L
Defence buildings	Defence buildings	D
Industry and commerce	Industry	I
Industry and commerce	Offices	J
Industry and commerce	Retail	K
Industry and commerce	Storage and warehousing	S
Minerals and landfill	Minerals and mining	M
Minerals and landfill	Landfill and waste disposal	Y
Other developed use	Unidentified building	~B
Other developed use	Unidentified general manmade surface	~M
Other developed use	Unidentified structure	~S
Other developed use	Unknown surface type with no classification	~U
Residential	Communal accommodation	Q
Residential	Residential	R
Transport and utilities	Highways and roads	H
Transport and utilities	Transport (other)	T
Transport and utilities	Utilities	U
Vacant land	Vacant land	V - PDL

Non-previously developed land

Group	Category	Code
Agriculture	Agricultural land	A
Agriculture	Agricultural buildings	B
Forestry, open land and water	Forestry and woodland	F
Forestry, open land and water	Rough grassland	G
Forestry, open land and water	Natural land	N
Forestry, open land and water	Water	W
Outdoor recreation	Outdoor recreation	O
Residential gardens	Residential gardens	RG
Undeveloped land	Undeveloped land	X
Vacant land	Vacant land	V - NPDL

Definitions for the 28 individual land use categories are provided in the technical notes.

11. Technical notes

Please see the accompanying technical notes document for further details of definitions, related statistics and other technical details.

Information on the UK Statistical System is available via the UK Statistics Authority website.

Information about statistics at Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is available via the Department’s website.

12. Enquiries

Date of next release: To be announced later

Media enquiries: 0303 444 1209 / email newsdesk@levellingup.gov.uk

Public enquiries and responsible statistician: Alex Reynolds

Email: planning.statistics@levellingup.gov.uk

1. Open Geography Portal. ↩

2. Land use in England 2022. ↩

3. Built-up Areas (December 2011) V2. ↩

4. Local authority Green Belt statistics 2021 to 2022. ↩