Cityweft’s England building dataset combines multiple high-quality building footprint sources with national LiDAR elevation data to produce a highly accurate and consistent 3D building layer for design and planning workflows.

Building footprints are sourced from datasets such as OpenStreetMap, Microsoft Building Footprints, and additional regional sources. These footprints are then unified and processed by Cityweft before being paired with LiDAR data from the UK National LiDAR Programme, published by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Data sources

• Building footprints: OpenStreetMap, Microsoft Buildings, and other trusted open datasets
• Height data: UK National LiDAR Programme (DEFRA)

Latest update

• The dataset reflects the latest available inputs as of 2025, based on LiDAR data collected between 2022 and 2025.

Coverage and reliability

• Nationwide building coverage across England
• Very high height accuracy, derived directly from measured LiDAR elevation data rather than estimated or averaged values
• In rare edge cases, heights may be affected by temporary or interfering objects (such as trees, cranes, or construction equipment), but these occurrences are uncommon

Cityweft processing approach

This dataset relies on a unique and technically complex processing pipeline developed by Cityweft:

• Building footprints from multiple sources are merged, cleaned, and standardized
• All footprint-based heights are fully overridden using LiDAR measurements