Planning and constraints
Plot utilisation (built coverage)
The share of a land parcel covered by building footprint; a low figure on a large parcel is the signature of an under-built site.
Also called: built coverage, site coverage, plot ratio, underdeveloped plot.
Definition
Plot utilisation, as the data uses it
A parcel of 2,000 square metres with 200 square metres of footprint has a built coverage of 0.1. MarketCode measures footprint against parcel for every parcel where both are known, and the sourcing search and plot utilisation tool let you set a ceiling: 0.2 finds substantially empty plots.
Coverage is measured on about 41% of parcels. Parcels with no measured coverage are excluded when a ceiling is set rather than counted as empty, because unknown coverage is not evidence of a vacant plot. And the largest parcels in any area are its parks, heaths, railways and cemeteries, which are excluded by default; an unfiltered Camden search once returned Regent's Park as its top result.
Tools
Tools that return it
Plot utilisation of land parcels
plot_utilisation()Land parcels by size and how much of them is built on. Set `max_built_coverage` to 0.2 to find largely undeveloped plots.
Search land or units by criteria
sourcing_search()Find land parcels or residential units matching investment criteria — the sourcing tool. Give a `location` (place or area name) or a `bbox`.
Site appraisal dossier
site_appraisal()Everything known about ONE site, assembled and judged — the site dossier.
See also
Related terms
- Brownfield land: Previously developed land; local authorities keep a register of brownfield sites suitable for housing, which MarketCode reads as a designation.
- Mixed-use building: A building that holds both residential and commercial units; a property of the building's unit mix rather than of any single unit, and the conversion cohort.
FAQ
Questions about plot utilisation
What does Plot utilisation mean?
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The share of a land parcel covered by building footprint; a low figure on a large parcel is the signature of an under-built site.
Which MarketCode tools return plot utilisation?
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Plot utilisation of land parcels, Search land or units by criteria, Site appraisal dossier. Each runs as an MCP tool in Claude, ChatGPT, Codex and Cursor and as a REST endpoint with an API key, at the same price.
Is site coverage the same thing?
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Yes. built coverage, site coverage, plot ratio are other names for what this entry defines; MarketCode uses "Plot utilisation" in its tool descriptions and responses.
See it on a real address.
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