Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Gov.UK Housing. Read the original article for full details.

Durham Council Halves Site Assessment Time with Digital Platform

Durham County Council has reduced the time needed to assess potential development sites by over 50% after introducing a digital site assessment platform. The council also reported an estimated annual operational cost saving of £10,403 as a result of this change.

Durham County Council adopted PlaceMaker, a digital local plan platform, to standardise and streamline the assessment of development sites. This move was part of a PropTech Innovation Fund round 4 pilot in 2024, aimed at improving the efficiency and consistency of site assessments for plan-making.

Before the pilot, site assessments in Durham involved multiple teams and relied heavily on manual processes, including the use of spreadsheets and documents. This approach was time-consuming, difficult to repeat consistently, and prone to duplication. The council sought to reduce the time and cost of assessing a large number of sites, standardise assessment criteria, and improve transparency and consistency in decision-making.

Working with Urban Intelligence, Durham County Council replaced its manual processes with PlaceMaker. The council transferred its existing Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) data into the platform, creating a more scalable digital evidence base. Durham also contributed to shaping a standardised Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA) database structure, which is now shared with other councils using the same platform.

Using PlaceMaker, officers assessed potential sites with a shared set of criteria, recorded information in a consistent digital format, and updated assessments as evidence changed. This digital workflow reduced duplication, improved collaboration between teams, and made it easier to manage and compare large numbers of sites over time.

The pilot supported both housing and employment land availability assessments, while maintaining the role of professional judgement. Planning officers reviewed and validated assessment outputs, ensuring that local knowledge and expertise remained central to the process.

For letting agents and inventory clerks, the move towards digital site assessment in Durham highlights the growing role of PropTech in streamlining property-related processes and improving data consistency across the sector.