A Plan for York

A Call for Sites (CFS) is a formal, early-stage consultation process where local planning authorities (LPAs) invite landowners, developers, and agents to submit land that could potentially be developed. It is not legally mandatory but is widely considered a best-practice step in preparing a local plan. The primary “Call for Sites” that informed the development of the 2025 York Local Plan was issued in August 2012.

However, according to Google’s AI, the process where local councils ask landowners and developers to submit land for potential development in local plans—can create opportunities for landowner collusion. While designed to identify available land, the process can be manipulated if not properly managed.

It is the beginning of a the plan making process which identifies specific areas of land that can be developed and which cannot. Barring the use of the new powers of compulsory purchase, it allocates large amounts of planning value to successful landowners.

The 2025 York Local Plan allocates land for an average of 822 homes per year. It specifies where these homes should be built. In doing this, the plan gives monopoly power to the land on which new homes are planned. In York, that monopoly power means land owners can demand prices for building land in the order of £200,000 per building plot. A small proportion of this must be paid to the Council as the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). In 2026, this is £123 per square metre. That is between 5% and 6% of the planning gain for a 3bed 90sq metre house.

Planning gain increases house prices to the level that only the affluent can afford.

In response to a call for sites in 2012, I sent in a proposal which identified outlined most of the undeveloped land within the York boundary to be included in the York Local Plan as possible development land. I outlined over 15,000 hectares ,which was most of the undeveloped land within the York boundary. That’s 56% of the area within York’s boundary – enough to expand the housing in York by more than four times.

I argued that it was important to avoid monopoly positions so that land or option owners did not extract monopoly prices after the Local Plan had identified which parcels of land could or could not be developed. Keeping options for development open would have given York Council a better bargaining position. This was not to say that all this land should be developed but to avoid embedding monopoly positions in the Local Plan.

My response to the 2012 call for sites can be seen at Making affordable housing possible. A plan for York.