The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is seeking views on a new methodology for its land use statistics for England. The figures track how much of the country’s land is residential, agricultural, woodland or transport, and how new housing development is spread across different land types.
The current statistics run only to 2022 and are built on Ordnance Survey data that OS is retiring, according to the department’s consultation document. Its replacement, the National Geographic Database, gives a more detailed picture of England’s land but is “fundamentally different” from the old dataset meaning that the old methodology won’t apply.
The department said it is using the switch as an opportunity to modernise the statistics rather than reproduce the old approach on new data.
The department says the refresh also responds to growing demand for land use evidence, citing the recently published Land Use Framework for England, the government’s housebuilding ambitions and the rollout of clean energy infrastructure.
Publication is due to resume this year, with the first release covering 2024 to 2026. The consultation asks for views on three main points: a more detailed set of land use categories, a break in the time series meaning the new figures should not be compared directly with those published up to 2022, and the schedule for the new and resumed releases.
The consultation runs from 16 September to 28 October 2026.
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