Site overview and section
What the «Site overview» rows show for a site in London, how each figure is counted, and how the «Section» tab cuts a skyline at true vertical scale.
Overview
After «Generate diagrams», a Site overview appears between the map and the plates. It has two rows. The «Site» row covers planning designations and, once you pick parcels or draw a boundary, the site area. The «Around» row covers the area within the radius: buildings, heights, age, use, the nearest station and the ground.
The overview is free for any site in Greater London. The «Section» tab (analysis tab 05) needs a Pro pass for your own site and works on the example site without one.
Site row
| Row | Content |
|---|---|
| Site area | Shown when you pick parcels (Land Registry title polygons) or draw a boundary. The note says «Parcel outline (indicative)», «N parcels combined» or «Drawn boundary». With a point only, the row reads «Pick parcels or draw a boundary to see the site area.» |
| Planning designation | London Plan designations that overlap the site, by share of the site area, largest first (for example «London Plan 2021 CAZ boundary 100%»). With a point only, the designation at the site centre |
| Coverage & plot ratio | Always «No fixed caps» |
The UK planning system has no zoning ceilings. Site coverage, plot ratio and height are decided through planning permission against the borough's Local Plan and the London Plan. The overview therefore shows no maximum floor area. The note under the rows reads: «UK planning has no zoning ceilings: development is decided by planning permission against the Local Plan. Check the borough's Local Plan policies map before designing.»
The designations used here are listed in Planning designations in London. Conservation areas, listed buildings and LVMF views are on the DISTRICTS & ZONES plate, not in this row.
Around row
| Row | How it is counted |
|---|---|
| Buildings | Buildings within the radius or frame, the same buildings as the plates |
| Average height · tallest | From LiDAR building heights, in metres |
| Average year built · share over 30 years | Buildings with age data only. For EPC age bands the year is the start of the band (1900–1929 counts as 1900), so the average reads earlier than the true mean |
| Most common use | By building count, in the BUILDING USE classes |
| Nearest station · bus stops | NaPTAN stations and stops. Distance is straight-line from the site centre, not walking distance (WALKING DISTANCE does that) |
| Site elevation · relief | Elevation at the site centre and the high-to-low range within the frame, from the Environment Agency LiDAR ground model (DTM, 1 m) |
Example, Bloomsbury, 800 m radius: 3,005 buildings, average height 16.1 m, tallest 177.3 m (BT Tower), average year built 1945 with 82% over 30 years, most common use Commercial (36% of buildings), nearest station Goodge Street at 200 m, 61 bus stops, site elevation 26.2 m, relief 19.1 m.
Elevation comes from the Environment Agency LiDAR Composite DTM, a 1 m bare-earth model with buildings and trees removed. Where LiDAR has gaps (mostly over water) sitedia falls back to Copernicus DEM GLO-30, a 30 m surface model. Read the figures as an order of magnitude, not as survey levels.
«Copy» puts the two rows on the clipboard as tab-separated text (it pastes into a spreadsheet as a table).
Section tab
Draw a line on the plan and the tab cuts a section along it. The plan is the BUILDING HEIGHT plate for the same site.
- Line: east–west or north–south through any point, rotated about the centre, or drawn freely with draggable end points
- Looking direction: the section shows the view from the line towards the red arrow on the plan. «Flip view» turns it round
- Dark buildings are cut by the line. Grey buildings stand behind it, lighter the farther away
- Vertical scale is 1:1, so two sections can be compared directly
- Labels are in metres. «Along this section» lists line length, buildings cut and behind, the share of the line under buildings, heights and the ground range
Nothing below ground is shown. Heights are from LiDAR flown 2016–2022; buildings completed later carry a fallback height (OpenStreetMap height, OpenStreetMap storeys × 3 m, or 3 m).
Limitations
- The overview does not replace a planning appraisal. Local Plan site allocations, tall building policies, heritage settings and pre-application advice are not in these numbers
- Parcel areas are measured from Land Registry INSPIRE polygons, which show the indicative extent of a title, not legal boundaries