Why Location Decisions Now Rely on Data
In 2025, finding the right development site takes more than low land cost and good transport links. With tighter planning rules, rising affordability pressures, and new housing delivery test measures, developers need local, real-time data to guide decisions.
Tracking housing demand, enquiry levels, and market trends helps highlight areas with both buyer appetite and planning potential. It’s the only way to cut through outdated stats and identify where new homes are most needed, and most likely to succeed.
Developers using housing demand data for developers are securing sites that meet local housing need, align with planning applications, and deliver stronger returns.
In today’s market, data is essential for getting location right.
What Housing Demand Data to Track
Before committing to land, successful developers layer up key data points that take the guesswork out of site selection:
- Search and enquiry trends – Local portal activity shows spikes in demand by postcode, useful for identifying potential planning applications aligned with housing need. Local portal activity, such as trends on Zoopla are useful for identifying potential planning applications aligned with housing need.
- Sales velocity and completions – How quickly new homes achieve exchange matters. Completions and delivery rates signal absorption strength and construction suitability.
- Affordability analysis – Comparing average incomes and mortgage terms to target prices helps avoid a mismatch between product and demand.
- Pipeline mapping – Understanding upcoming supply and neighbouring delivery informs where competition may impact your scheme.
These metrics offer a data-backed foundation for evaluating site potential: not just for build, but for delivery and future returns.
Spotting Emerging Locations
Developers looking to get ahead are tracking rising housing demand in areas where supply is falling short. A key indicator is portal search volumes: if activity is up, especially in locations with housing delivery test shortfalls or upcoming infrastructure, that’s often a green flag.
Shortfalls in affordable housing delivery also highlight opportunity. Local authorities missing government targets may be more receptive to new planning applications that help bridge the gap.
And if rents or sale prices are rising faster than neighbouring areas, that points to strong future potential. Focus on places where:
- Search volumes are up 20%+ year-on-year
- Completions lag behind assessed housing need
- Demand for affordable homes outpaces delivery
Layer these insights, and you can find locations primed for development, before your competitors do.
Using Demand Insight to Shape Your Schemes
Once you’ve identified a strong site, shaping the right scheme is what turns potential into profit. Developers using housing demand data to guide early design decisions are better positioned to align with planning applications, affordability targets, and local buyer needs.
- Unit mix targeting – Tailor dwelling types to gaps in local supply and affordability bands, using demand insight to guide the right ratio of flats vs houses.
- Feature focus – Include features buyers actively search for, like private outdoor space or EV charging, especially in areas with sustainable development targets.
- Pricing logic – Ground your pricing in local market data and recent completions, not estimates, so values reflect what buyers can actually afford.
By integrating these insights early, you build a scheme that’s more likely to gain planning permission, perform in the current market, and deliver consistent returns.
Turning Demand Insights into Site Strategy
Spotting demand is only the first step: translating it into a viable development strategy is where value is created. Start by combining affordability data, local pricing trends, and search behaviour to shape your unit mix. If pricing doesn’t reflect what local buyers can borrow, sales will stall no matter the location.
Tracking demand by property type, like faster sales of two-beds versus four-beds, can help optimise your pipeline. At the same time, overlay housing delivery test results and recent planning applications to understand where unmet need aligns with planning opportunity.
This approach helps developers target secure sites with clear demand, navigate planning rules more effectively, and deliver new homes that are both needed and financially viable.
For a full breakdown of how to turn early demand indicators into a robust project plan, explore our guide to site viability assessment.
Understanding the Housing Delivery Test
The Housing Delivery Test is a vital tool for identifying where housing need is being met, and where it isn’t. Here’s what the test tracks, and why it matters:
- Performance vs housing need: It compares the number of homes delivered over the past three years against local housing targets, highlighting shortfalls.
- Planning implications: Underperforming authorities may face a presumption in favour of sustainable development, influencing how planning applications are assessed.
- Affordable housing signals: Areas falling short often carry unmet demand for affordable homes, especially where delivery lags significantly behind population growth or infrastructure investment.
- Market entry points: Combined with demand data, test results help developers pinpoint where delivery pressure is highest—and where schemes may be fast-tracked.
Used alongside housing demand data and local market insights, the Housing Delivery Test is more than just a government metric, it’s a practical tool for identifying gaps, prioritising locations, and backing planning proposals with evidence.
To help support your application with targeted insight, check out our guide to housing need data for planning applications.
