London mayor Boris Johnson is reissuing his call on the government to allow London to retain all stamp duty receipts raised on the sale of properties in the capital to fund the development of new homes.
In a speech at the Chartered Institute of Housing today, Johnson will reiterate that devolving £1.3bn of stamp duty annually back to London would give a stable income stream to build the 1m homes needed in the next 25 years.
The mayor will tell members that London cannot rely solely on a planning-led system, which has delivered half the number of homes needed over the past 20 years.
The proposal would enable City Hall to borrow on the capital markets against the stamp duty revenue steam for the investment it needs to stimulate infrastructure investment to unlock housing growth, kick-start stalled developments and making longer-term commitments to the regeneration of housing estates.
The mayor’s push to capture stamp duty receipts is top of his list of measures to deregulate house building in London. They include:
– giving London boroughs more freedom to build homes – this would include removing the borrowing limits on town halls;
– giving housing associations long-term certainty to build affordable and market homes;
– implementing a new affordable housing settlement for London from 2015 with rents reflecting incomes and within housing benefit levels;
– demonstrating how purpose-built, custom-designed private-rented homes can accelerate the deliver on three GLA-owned sites;
– transferring surplus government land to City Hall to maximise development opportunities;
– launching a new City Hall initiative with developers to identify housing schemes for the London Pension Fund Authority to consider for investment – an opportunity that would be extended to other pension funds.
Johnson will declare: “What is needed now is a radically different approach which optimises City Hall’s role, unlocks the potential of the capital’s boroughs, allows developers including housing associations to up their game and creates a stable supply of land for housing. Above all, London needs a stable funding stream which will support and accelerate its housing and infrastructure delivery.
“Even in the toughest of economic times, London has shown that with fresh thinking it can deliver, with record affordable house building figures in my first mayoral term. So I am calling on the coalition to give us the tools and we will solve the crisis, supporting and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and boosting economic growth across the UK along the way.”
Councillor Jonathan Glanz, Westminster city council’s portfolio holder for housing, said: “The mayor’s proposals have the potential to halt the polarisation of central London as a place where only the wealthy and needy can find homes.
“It makes absolute sense for London to retain the stamp duty on sales, particularly in boroughs like ours and Kensington and Chelsea where the preponderance of high value properties triggers the higher rates of stamp duty. With the mayor’s support, I hope we can persuade the government to allow this income to be retained locally where it can help fund local authority house building.”
annabel.dixon@estatesgazette.com
