The Planning London Datahub

The Planning London Datahub is an interactive tool that holds detailed information on planning applications, permissions, commencements and completions in Greater London. It takes the place of the former London Development Database (LDD) as the central repository for information on proposed and coming development. The LDD only contained information on applications once they had received permission, whereas the new system captures applications earlier in the process (from the point of validation).

• it contains far more granular information on each proposed development and allows users to analyse this quickly using bespoke dashboards
• it is updated daily, whereas the LDD was often months behind. These changes have been accomplished through automation and by adding new questions to planning applications in Greater London
• it is open to the public, and the ability to consume the data via an API* is in development.

* API – an API is a set of functions allowing access to the features or data of an operating system, application or other service. Or in simpler terms, an API allows the sharing of data between applications.

The data in the Datahub is accessible in several ways:

• Live Monitoring Reports - the GLA will publish a live dashboard showing key facts about planning applications across London
• Kibana - if you want to query the data yourself, Kibana will enable you to build your own queries If you wish to create your own dashboards to view the data this can easily be done and we have created a ‘Planning London Datahub - Create a Dashboard’ video for how to do this which you can view on our YouTube Channel
• API - Data can be accessed directly using an API, allowing integration with other systems. Details can be found in our API connection technical document, and the technical schema provides details of the data fields.
• Power BI dashboards - A range of dashboards are currently in development, for example for residential approvals and residential completions.

In the Planning DataHub you will find the following datasets:

LDD Data

All planning approvals previously reported on the London Development Database (namely the creation, or loss or new build of one dwelling or greater, loss or gain of public open space and major commercial development) dating back to 2004

Development progress

Commencements and Completions dating back to 2004 relating to LDD data is included as well as manually supplied data for schemes since.

Data Feeds

We have linked to each Borough’s back office system which records planning applications. This information is then fed automatically to the Datahub. All data feeds from Boroughs will be going live over the coming weeks.

Related Data

Since November 2020 Data relating to Planning Applications that have come through the data feed. As boroughs come online with their feeds of planning applications the related data will become available.

All of London's 35 planning authorities are contributing to the Datahub project, with data feeds to the system either live or in testing.

This maps shows the status of the data feeds from each of London’s planning authorities to the Datahub. All but two feeds are live, with only Hounslow and Waltham Forest still being tested.

The data is collected through the planning application and development process and will improve in time. The initial iteration of the product includes:

Development Proposal Information

This is information submitted on the planning application form. Inside the GLA area this has been updated on the Planning Portal to collect all of the information in an accessible data format.

Data about Processing of Applications

This is collected through a connection into planning authority’s back office systems. This is different dependent on which system is operated, but collects core information, such as valid data, decision dates, consultation dates, descriptions, as well as core information about the application, decision and conditions.

Data about Commencements and Completions

At present this is completed manually by borough officers using whatever data is available to them.

Links to Other Data Sets

This product does not stand alone, however data from related products such as the Infrastructure Mapping Application, London Building Stock Model and other data platforms are not published through this dataset.

The principle purpose for the GLA collecting this information is so that it can monitor the impact of the London Plan, and borough plans on the city.

The data is also used by the GLA for a number of other purposes which enable it to plan for the future of London:

• demography - the GLA is responsible for preparing population projections for London
• Infrastructure Planning - the GLA plans for the future infrastructure needs of the city including, amongst other things, schools, hospitals and transport
• tools to help Londoners - Tools such as the accessible housing register and collaboration tools such as the Infrastructure Mapping Application (IMA) help improve Londoners understanding of the data and enable businesses that serve Londoners to collaborate more effectively
• environmental monitoring
• the Boroughs - To monitor the effectiveness of policies in their borough
• the public and business - Because the data is public, we expect it will be used by Londoners to understand the planning system better and by SMEs in the Plantech space for a variety of purposes.

Original Data

The data received on the data hub is as supplied by applicants for planning permission, so may be subject to inherent issues and errors. It does not include personal data.

Updated Data

The data quality is reliant on it being updated by applicants as schemes are amended through the planning process. This update is completed by applicants going back and updating their application forms through whatever means they used to submit their original planning application.

Quality Checking

The team at the GLA are currently undertaking dip sampling of the data to check for quality on receipt but do not warrant it’s quality or completeness. If you are looking to rely on outputs of the data or you develop insights into the data that you feel are new or inconsistent with what you expect, please do come back and check with the team, who subject to capacity will walk through the data with you.

This data offering is still in development, and future improvements are planned including:

• reviewing data collected
• reviewing question guidance
• data quality
• automating commencement and completions
• connecting and improving datasets
• value chain review
• business case for Improvement.

If you have other suggestions, ideas or concerns about the data please do get in contact with us.

You can email us at [email protected]

The new questions that will be asked on planning applications are included in the Planning Application Questions Required for the Planning London Datahub.

Advice on answering the new questions is provided in our guidance and justification document.

The mandatory fields are shown in the document Planning Application Questions Required for the Planning London Datahub.