The Government has unveiled a local plan site submission tool intended to make it simpler for landowners, developers and members of the public to put forward land for possible allocation in England’s new Local Plans.
The local plan site submission tool, announced by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on 6th October 2026, the proposed free digital form would replace some of the inconsistent paperwork and mapping formats that planning authorities currently receive during a call for sites. The department is now seeking councils willing to test it.
The crucial qualification is that this is a tool being tested, not a new nationwide obligation or an automatic route to allocation. Local planning authorities will still choose the sites they assess and ultimately propose through their statutory plan-making processes.
What the local plan site submission tool will do
The MHCLG Digital local plan site submission tool announcement explains that the tool is intended to provide one consistent way to receive proposals at the outset of the site identification process. It would allow someone to draw a site’s boundary on an online map without specialist geographic information system software, then send the proposal directly to the relevant local planning authority.
With the local plan site submission tool, instead of an officer manually extracting the site boundary and other details from PDFs, emails, documents and separate maps, the submission would arrive in a more usable digital form. The department says that boundaries could be converted automatically into mapping data. That could make the initial screening exercise quicker, particularly where a council receives hundreds of sites.
The scale of the existing problem was illustrated by an unnamed planning officer quoted in the departmental research, who said that Sorting through what is actually relevant takes months
. The Government’s argument is that better information handling would give officers more time to assess land rather than re-enter data.
The local plan site submission tool is therefore about how a call for sites is administered. It does not amount to a new policy test, a replacement for professional judgement or a decision that all submitted land should be allocated.
Why calls for sites matter in the new Local Plan system
The move sits alongside England’s new Local Plan preparation system, which is intended to support a 30-month plan-making process. Authorities need to identify a broad supply of potential development land before deciding which locations fit their chosen spatial strategy and can meet needs for homes, employment and other development.
MHCLG’s Stage 1 site identification guidance says authorities should search widely for options. Land proposed by owners, promoters and members of the public is one source of evidence, not the only one. Councils are also expected to look at existing allocations, brownfield registers, planning histories, public land, vacant buildings and opportunities to intensify or redevelop existing sites.
This matters because a digital form will not alter the fundamental sequence. Identifying a potential site is followed by assessing its suitability, considering draft allocations and recording the decisions made. A site might be available and physically developable but still fail because it does not fit the strategy, causes unacceptable effects or cannot be delivered within the plan period.
Equally, a piece of land does not gain planning permission because it appears in a council’s call for sites exercise. Allocation through an adopted Local Plan may establish support in principle for a proposed use, but a later planning application must still address the scheme’s detailed impacts and any applicable conditions or obligations.
What landowners and agents should prepare
For people promoting land, the practical lesson is not to wait for the new website to arrive. Check the relevant council’s current Local Plan timetable and call for sites arrangements. A live local deadline continues to matter, whether the authority accepts online forms, GIS files or traditional submissions. There is no reason to assume that a trial of this new tool automatically extends a consultation.
A useful submission will normally identify the ownership position and exact site boundary, current and previous uses, the intended development, approximate capacity, access arrangements and any known constraints. Land availability, likely delivery timescales, existing planning history and barriers to delivery should be addressed candidly. These matters are directly relevant to the council’s later assessment.
A neat digital boundary will not fix a weak site promotion case. If the plot sits in a flood-risk area, lacks realistic highway access, is affected by protected habitats or depends on third-party land, those issues should be investigated before presenting ambitious housing numbers. The process should help a planning authority understand the opportunity, not bury the risks.
Landowners should also distinguish an initial expression of interest from more detailed evidence. MHCLG’s site identification guidance contemplates a proportionate initial information set, with additional material requested later where necessary. Commissioning an extensive viability report at the first stage may be unnecessary, but failing to explain obvious abnormal costs or land-control issues can also damage confidence in delivery.
What changes for councils, and what does not
For planning policy teams, the attraction is consistency. Standard fields can make it easier to compare submissions, identify missing information and plot potential sites. Avoiding repeated manual transcription could also reduce the risk of boundary errors. Those benefits are plausible, but the department has not yet published measured savings from a national rollout of this particular tool.
Councils will still need to decide how the form fits their published procedures, statutory engagement duties, records management and wider site assessment work. The tool is not intended to replace specialised commercial products for viability work or site analysis, and MHCLG makes clear that councils retain responsibility for deciding which sites are suitable.
Any wider deployment will also need to deal carefully with public transparency and personal information. A call for sites often contains contact details, commercial assertions and land information that may later appear in published evidence. The existing Government guidance tells authorities to explain how submitted information is handled and to consider what should be published. Standard collection does not remove those responsibilities.
The pilot is not yet the national submission route
The distinction between announcement and implementation is particularly important here. On 6th October, MHCLG was inviting a small group of local planning authorities to help test and embed the service. It specifically sought councils expecting a call for sites during the next three to six months. The department has not said that every English planning authority must switch to the tool immediately.
Interested authorities are directed to contact [email protected]. For a developer or landowner, however, the correct starting point remains the authority running the relevant Local Plan exercise. Do not send a site promotion to a supposed new national portal unless that council confirms it is accepting submissions through the service.
This announcement applies to the plan-making programme in England. It does not change the Local Development Plan arrangements in Scotland, development planning in Wales or the planning policy system in Northern Ireland. Nor does it amend the August 2026 National Planning Policy Framework or establish new permitted development rights.
What happens next
The next significant test will be whether participating councils can run a real call for sites more quickly while still collecting enough evidence to make robust and transparent decisions. The value of a national format depends on take-up, accessibility for people without technical planning experience and the ease with which authorities can use the data in their existing systems.
For now, the local plan site submission tool remains a promising administrative reform rather than a completed national system. Planning Geek’s guide to the old and new Local Plan systems in England explains the statutory process and transition, while the development plan explainer covers the status of planning policy when applications are decided. The practical advice for site promoters remains unchanged: follow the live Local Plan timetable, submit accurate site information and support the development case with evidence.
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