The London Land Commission recently released the first comprehensive register of public land in the capital. It highlighted 40,000 different sites owned by various bodies including Transport for London, the NHS and Government Departments. It is estimated that these brownfield sites could deliver a minimum of 130,000 new homes if they were all redeveloped.

The data is the most comprehensive to ever be released. It was compiled by Savills following their appointment in July 2015. Each site is identified in detail, including the size, what it is currently used for and who owns it. They range in size from small pieces of land that could be used for a handful of new homes to larger sites with space for hundreds of properties.

The Commission is dedicated to working closely with the landowners to encourage the sale and redevelopment of the brownfield sites. The land will be marketed to encourage home building in order to help ease the demand for properties in the capital, thereby ensuring there is a real benefit from the sale. There are even plans in place to group some of the smaller sites together to make them more attractive propositions for developers.

The publication of the public land register is already providing benefits. The data has been used to create an interactive map that shows the location of each site. This useful tool makes it easier to address the strategic opportunities that each site offers, including the potential for delivering new homes. You can view the map on the london.gov.uk website on the London Land Commission Page.

It is hoped that freeing the sites will help the Government to reach its house building goal. This strategy will work well alongside the similar ones being employed by the Mayor of London and Transport for London. It could be great news for buyers in the capital in the future, especially when we consider the introduction of the new Help to Buy Scheme for London as it targets new builds.