Ordnance Survey shows property sector can improve with location data

An interesting piece of research has just come out from the Ordnance Survey claiming that as much as 36% of people don’t think they make the most of location data in the property sector.

The survey further reveals that the sector is tackling the economic downturn by improving efficiency and cutting costs rather than by cutting fees.  We have picked out some of the main findings from this survey of 270 property professionals.

Dealing with the downturn:

• 81% see cost cutting and increasing efficiency as the two most important strategies for dealing with the economic downturn
• A smaller minority (33%) think that reducing prices or fees is the way to tackle current economic challenges
• Environmental issues are more worrying to architects than property developers: Only 25% of property developers cite environmental issues as a key pressure for business, compared with 46% of architects

Using location data:

• Whilst 70% use location data predominantly for project planning, 81% consider geographic and location context to be important, very important or essential to business strategy and planning
• 80% of property developers see location data as very important or essential
• 97% see the importance of location data increasing or remaining constant and of the respondents who forecast a change in the way that location data is used (32%), 61% forecast an increase in usage
• Despite this, 47% of engineers, 43% of housing associations and 41% of property advisors surveyed don’t think they are making the most of the location data that is available to them

Data requirements of the property industry:

• Data relating to planning issues (81%) and land use (80%) are the key requirements for the sector
• 61% need data on geographical features and boundary lines
• In comparison to others in the sector, a larger percentage of housing associations rely on demographic profiling data (63%) and information on crime rates (43%)
• Site location (88%) and planning proposals and applications (83%) constitute the primary use of location data. 70% of the sector will also use the data in design and construction
• 33% used location data for the purposes of data analysis; however this seems to be more prominent in larger companies with 53% of companies of more than 100 people using it for this purpose, compared to only 29% of companies of under 100 people

Clearly location data is becoming increasingly important when it comes to decision making in the property sector. If you are one of the 36% of people who don’t use location data to its full potential, there are many opportunities to explore, including data analysis for property developers and providing multi-dimensional data on city sites for architects.

FIND provides a host of location data to underpin and support the property sector for more effective business. FIND’s most popular maps, datasets and reports include:

Maps to view, print and export
OS MasterMap 1:1250
Street detail 1:10 000
Locale 1:25 000

Location data to view print and export
Listed buildings
Built heritage sites (Scheduled monuments, World heritage sites, Parks and gardens Battlefields)
Planning application locations
Environment Agency Flood Constraint map
Conservation areas maps
Boundaries (Parishes, Ward, Electoral division, Constituencies (with Member of Parliament name and website link), Local authority district, County)
Postcodes (Including districts and areas)
London Building Heights

Location reports
Historical maps report
Underground Utilities report
Professional commercial flood risk report