The housing secretary and mayor of London have set out emergency measures to unlock dozens of stalled sites and build thousands of homes in the capital.<\/p>\n
The package includes targeted planning changes designed to remove viability constraints that have been restricting housing delivery in London. High interest rates, rising construction\u00a0costs, complex\u00a0planning\u00a0rules\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0legacy of the\u00a0Covid-19 pandemic\u00a0have created\u00a0a series of\u00a0hurdles, resulting in only 4,522 social and affordable housing starts on-site in 2024\/25, considerably lower than the 26,386 starts reported in 2022\/23.<\/p>\n
The package\u00a0confirms\u00a0targeted, time-limited\u00a0support\u00a0for\u00a0housebuilders\u00a0to\u00a0improve the viability of\u00a0housing\u00a0schemes and\u00a0get\u00a0quicker\u00a0approvals\u00a0across every borough.\u00a0This\u00a0includes:<\/p>\n
The government says that housebuilders\u00a0will be expected to make real progress, and will face an Early-Stage Review if they miss agreed targets and milestones, which could require them to deliver more affordable housing on-site.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0government\u00a0has\u00a0also\u00a0brought\u00a0forward\u00a0the necessary\u00a0legislation\u00a0today\u00a0to expand\u00a0the\u00a0Mayor\u2019s\u00a0powers\u00a0to call in and review\u00a0planning applications\u00a0for\u00a050 homes or more where\u00a0a borough is\u00a0minded\u00a0to refuse.\u00a0This will come into force in May, and builds on the progress already made in the English Devolution Bill, which\u00a0includes\u00a0a faster representation process that\u00a0will\u00a0cut\u00a0up to six months off\u00a0some\u00a0planning decisions.<\/p>\n
Housing secretary, Steve Reed, said: <\/strong>\u201cThe scale of the housing crisis in London demands action \u2013 so that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis decisive action will turn plans on paper into thousands of new homes in our capital, with a clear message to developers to get on and build.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re kickstarting London housebuilding so more Londoners can rent or own a home that is genuinely affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: <\/strong>\u201cBuilding more social and affordable homes is a top priority and I\u2019m taking the tough decisions to get these much-needed homes built, including working closely with government to finalise this temporary emergency package which will unlock stalled sites across London.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve listened closely to the views of housebuilders, housing associations, councils and Londoners and the bold new measures respond to many of their concerns, ensuring we prioritise getting as many affordable homes built as possible and address the unique challenges London is facing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI make no apology for wanting to see more action to deliver new homes and will continue to work with government to accelerate housebuilding, tackling the building safety regulator backlog and supporting new schemes as we build a fairer and better capital for all.\u201d<\/p>\n The government says that the changes\u00a0support\u00a0the\u00a0government\u2019s mission to build 1.5 million homes this Parliament and give London its own tools to move at pace and\u00a0start to\u00a0get back on track to meeting its annual target of 88,000 new homes.\u00a0<\/p>\n As part of the measures, the\u00a0Mayor\u00a0can also become\u00a0the decision-maker\u00a0for developments of\u00a0over\u00a01,000sqm\u00a0on\u00a0Green Belt\u00a0or\u00a0Metropolitan Open Land\u00a0\u2013 bolstering\u00a0plans to build\u00a0on lower-quality,\u00a0poorly connected\u00a0grey belt land near public transport hubs.\u00a0However, this will not make it easier for development to be approved on high-quality Green Belt and Metropolitan Open\u00a0Land.\u00a0<\/p>\n Paul Rickard, chief executive of Pocket Living, said: <\/strong>\u201cThe emergency measures are both welcome and necessary. The scale of the housing delivery challenge facing London cannot be underestimated and it is positive to see that both the government, and the mayor, have reflected this in the final proposals. These will support the housebuilding industry to get on and deliver. The need is even more acute than it was, given the likely impact of the war in the Middle East on issues such as construction costs and consumer confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cViability is, and will remain, the critical challenge, which is why we are pleased to see feedback from the sector reflected in today\u2019s announcements and for the measures go beyond those originally proposed, including the time limited planning route to benefit from the lower affordable housing rate of 20% extended, clarity on existing planning consents, and an expectation that this measures will come in to effect almost immediately. The pragmatic approach to CIL through a faster and lighter touch new Summary Appraisal could be a key boost to housing delivery, including unlocking existing stalled consents.\u201d<\/p>\n Olivia Harris, chief executive of Dolphin Living, said: <\/strong>\u201cThere is much to welcome and support in the updated measures announced today, including the more flexible approach to CIL through the introduction of the lighter touch Summary Appraisal, along with an extension of the time limited planning route to benefit from the lower affordable housing rate of 20% until March 2028. However, as beneficial as these measures will be, the viability crisis remains very real and is only likely to intensify in the short-term. In addition to these measures, boroughs and the GLA need to offer far greater flexibility with regards to affordable tenure. By switching to intermediate rented tenure, then there is not only a boost to viability and ultimately deliverability, but also a significant benefit to those people who can\u2019t access social housing in the capital yet can\u2019t afford market rents either. These are the critical workers that the capital desperately needs to retain to not only grow the economy but deliver vital public services too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The housing secretary and mayor of London have set out emergency measures to unlock dozens of stalled sites…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":849908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,242651,393,3525,4884,18237,213449,257,242652,242653,105379,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-849907","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-dolphin-living","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-featured-news","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-greater-london-authority","14":"tag-leading-story","15":"tag-london","16":"tag-olivia-harris","17":"tag-pocket-living","18":"tag-steve-reed","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116291344084186563","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}