The London Assembly says TfL is unlikely to meet its target for homes on surplus land and needs to be clear about the trade-offs it is making for increased affordable housing provision.
Its Homes down the track, a marathon and a sprint report says the Tube operator is unlikely to deliver 10,000 homes by 2020 unless it makes more radical steps such as streamlining the bidding process and enabling smaller builders to develop sites.
It also said there needs to be clear dialogue about the trade-offs for property development and what will make the best deal for London.
Mayor Sadiq Khan wants TfL to provide 50% affordable housing on its sites to go towards his campaign pledge for half of all new homes to be affordable.
However, the report said the opportunity cost of this policy is substantial on many TfL sites.
“Delivering affordable homes on expensive sites requires significant subsidy, whether in terms of capital grant or monetary value foregone,” it said.
The report set out eight recommendations for TfL’s ongoing land disposal program:
- The London Land Commission (LLC) should undertake more detailed work to classify London’s developable public landholdings to make the database more useable for developers.
- The mayor needs to work with the boroughs and TfL to align development objectives for each site
- TfL needs to develop and resource a strong relationship with each relevant borough to accelerate delivery and create certainty wherever possible
- TfL must ensure effective joint working between its property development and operational and technical staff
- TfL should consider whether it needs to add a property professional to its board membership
- TfL and the mayor should consider a more rapid approach to procurement on a first set of sites
- TfL should prioritise identifying and analysing smaller sites so that more of them come forward quickly. By the end of 2017, it shouldput together a pilot approach to working with smaller builders
- TfL should appoint a small builder champion to its property development team.
Andrew Boff AM, former chair of the London Assembly housing committee, said: “TfL has set itself the target of starts on sites by 2020 to deliver 10,000 homes.
“Our evidence suggests this is something of a sprint and we don’t think it’s going to make it unless it takes some more radical steps.
“Either way, we need to be clear about the trade-offs TfL is making to be sure its land is delivering the best deal for Londoners.”
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