London mayor Sadiq Khan’s 50% affordable housing target is a long-term strategic target, and will not be required on all schemes, according to a senior city hall source advising on planning.
In the first interview explaining the mayor’s housing plans since taking office, the adviser said that the mayor wanted to work closely with developers, on what he said was the huge amount they have in common, to increase the number of homes built in London.
“We want to work with developers alongside housing associations, councils and the business community in London to come together about what we agree on and to make sure what we agree on, which is building more homes for Londoners, happens quickly,” they said.
The spokesman said that the mayor’s office recognised that increasing affordable housing London was a “marathon not a sprint,” and said “it will take times to turn things around, particularly when it is clear after the election, having done an audit at City Hall, of the legacy we have inherited”.
Last week, Khan issued a statement accusing predecessor Boris Johnson of “leaving the cupboard bare”, though he is keen to show he is getting a handle on addressing the housing crisis.
According to the spokesman, Khan’s focus has been on building an industry-wide alliance to increase housebuilding, and the source said making affordable housing provision more straightforward was one such opportunity for collaboration.
“One issue that has come out consistently and often is that people are frustrated by the whole process of viability assessments at the moment, in that there are so many disagreements over methodologies and so on,” they said.
“If we could get a clearer, more consistent approach, that would help to speed up development.”
Despite the positive overtones for developers, when asked if Sadiq would use his call-in powers to increase affordable housing, the spokesman would not rule it out.
“I think he will look on all schemes on a case-by-case basis and will want to use his planning powers to make sure that development happens in London and that is has a decent level of affordable housing,” they said.
The spokesman said the disposal of public land was also a top priority.
“People know there is public land out there… they want to see the GLA and councils having a role in bringing forward that land, and making sure we do get homes built on it, rather than sitting there in a database,” he said.
When asked about what public land they would use now that all GLA owned land had been allocated, he said TfL was next.
“The top priority for the mayor when it comes to public land is TfL land,” he said. “Because there are a large number of sites that TfL have identified and they are identifying more…
“TfL is a body where the mayor does have control, it is part of the GLA family, so the mayor can say ‘I want to bring forward this land quicker, I want to get more homes built on it, I want to make sure we have got more affordable homes built on this land when it comes forward’.”
TfL has an already agreed developer framework, and a plan for bringing forward sites. The spokesman said city hall would need to ensure it had a program of releasing sites as fast as possible, while sitting within the TfL business plan.
But when asked what Khan would he do if developers did not want to bring forward the sites quickly due to market conditions, he said: “We can discuss that with TfL and people on the framework when the sites come forward.”
Finally, Khan’s spokesman outlined how build to rent could also play a role in future housing provision.
“A really important and exciting opportunity at the moment is the number of people who want to progress developments that are build to rent,” he said.
He said there was a large amount of money looking to enter the sector, the sector caters for a market that needs extra supply, and it could help overcome absorption problems of conventional build for sale developments.
“So there is a really important role to play there and we are really keen to work with the industry to work out what support build-to rent-developments need in order to come forward,” he said.
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