In October we completed our survey of London Borough of Hackney recording over 1,100 development opportunities on both public and private land. We have mapped enough underutilised space on public land to conservatively house 10,000 people in over 3,000 homes with minimal impact on estate functionality, and without a single person being displaced from an existing residence – information we intend sharing with Local Government.

Most of these development opportunities aren't obvious; we don't record green spaces or fields. Skill and attention is required to find and assess the merits of each space. For this reason the role of surveyor must be filled by Architects with a development acumen. Our bespoke surveying App and Data Management System will allow us to create a database for the government to advance the Brownfield Land Register and for Local Authorities to exceed their housing quota for years to come.

We plan on expanding the survey across Central London in 2018

Underutilised space survey information can be used to:

• locate space for social housing, infill development and densification on Public Land

• Contribute to the Brownfield Land Register, responsibly regenerate our urban centres, fight urban sprawl and save the green belt from over-development

• Generate development/regeneration strategies and planning policy by Local Authorities

• Align different departments within the Local Authority under an impartial and consistent layer of information

• Inform Local Authorities on development strategies beyond Borough boundaries 

• Highlight development opportunities to private landowners to release value on their land and present development opportunities for third-party investment

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