Herefordshire Council

The proposed platform has been mapped and is aligned to the Self Build and Custom Build Act 2015 and provides a cost effective, user friendly approach.

The solution will;

1. Automate eligibility verification, providing the customer with an instant response thus reducing transaction cost and time of local authority staff.
2. Offer a self-management portal, allowing users the opportunity to amend their application. IE change preferred location, or project type.
3. Provide a portal where verified Land owners are connected with those who require land, thus linking supply to demand.  It will be linked to a Geographical Information System (GIS) mapping the exact location, it will also provide the history of the land use and planning application status information.
4. Generate live reports as per legislative requirements and to support decision making.

Discovery evidence

The Self Build and Custom Build Act 2015 has a clear requirement for those authorities who have powers to; plan housing, land use policy, dispose of local authority land and regeneration. It mandates them to maintain a self-build register, generate annual reports on demographic demand characteristics and the councils progress towards meeting these demands.

Following a period of review, it became evident that response times should be reduced. The complexity of matching demand to suitable land should be simplified. Generating reports for a range of external stakeholders (land owners, agents, registrants and developers) is time consuming.