Three weeks after taking office, London’s new mayor Sadiq Khan and his team is turning on the charm for the property sector and offering reassurance on his campaign claims.
In the first interview to outline the new mayor’s housing strategy, James Murray, newly appointed deputy mayor for housing, said the controversial 50% affordable housing target in Khan’s manifesto was a long-term strategic goal and would not be required for every development.
Affordable housing in London was a “marathon, not a sprint”, he told Estates Gazette. It would “take time to turn things around, particularly when, having done an audit at City Hall, we are clear on the legacy we have inherited”, he added.
Murray was officially appointed on Wednesday. The former Islington councillor had been widely tipped to be Khan’s new right-hand man for housing.
The mayor wants to work closely with developers on what Murray described as the huge amount they had in common to increase the number of homes built.
Khan’s focus is on building an industry-wide alliance to increase housebuilding. Making affordable housing provision more straightforward was one such opportunity for collaboration, Murray said.
“If we could get a clearer, more consistent approach [to viability assessments], it would help to speed up development,” he added.
Last week, Khan accused his predecessor Boris Johnson of “leaving the cupboard bare”. Nevertheless, he wants to show he is getting a handle on addressing the housing crisis.
Despite the charm offensive, when asked if Khan would use his call-in powers to increase affordable housing, Murray said the mayor would not rule it out.
“I think he will look at 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 it has a decent level of affordable housing,” he said.
Disposal of public land was also a top priority. When asked about what public land Khan 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. Because there are a large number of sites that TfL has identified and it is identifying more,” he said.
“TfL is a body over which 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,’” Murray said.
TfL already has an agreed developer framework and a plan for bringing forward sites. Murray said that City Hall would need a programme of releasing sites as fast as possible while sitting within the TfL business plan.
When asked what his office would do if developers did not want to bring forward the sites quickly because of market conditions, he said: “We can discuss that with TfL and people on the framework when the sites come forward.”
Murray said Khan is also prepared to support developers of rented housing, who could provide much-needed funding for development, supply and faster absorption rates.
“An important opportunity is the number of people who want to progress build-to-rent developments,” he said.
“We are keen to work with the industry to work out what support developments need in order to come forward.”
Khan he do it?
Industry figures react to the new mayor’s housing plans
Graeme Craig, TfL director for commercial development
“We are working closely with the mayor and his team to help support and deliver his housing manifesto.
“We are all keen to see early progress on bringing forward substantial development that will generate vital non-fare revenue to reinvest in transport and provide thousands of homes that will be affordable to ordinary Londoners.”
Adam Challis, head of residential research at JLL
“The mayor has big ambitions for improving the supply of affordable housing in London and he will need full industry support to achieve this.
“It is important that higher affordable quantums are slowly phased in so that land values can adjust. Move too quickly and scheme viability will be badly undermined, meaning the mayor ends up with less affordable and private housing.”
Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation
“The focus on build to rent and the release of public sector land is welcome.
“We would like to see a quarter of public sector land targeted on build to rent in order to ensure that homes of a variety of tenures and price points are provided.
“We still need to see more detail on what Khan is planning to do with regard to affordable housing.”
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