How do we balance nature with housing delivery?

It puts a net-zero requirement on developers, which has helped to significantly reduce emissions in an industry that would otherwise have one of the biggest carbon footprints. If developers can’t cut emissions on site by at least 35%, they have to offset it by investing in local climate-action projects, which we expect will provide millions of pounds across London boroughs.

Along with policies on urban greening and increasing biodiversity, the current plan set a high environmental standard for new development, and the best of the sector has gone further.

The mayor’s New London Architecture award showcases how the capital adapts to urban development opportunities and challenges. This year’s prize will recognise schemes that promote the best use of land to support housing delivery, with particular emphasis on nature recovery, urban greening, biodiversity and accessibility.

“Along with policies on urban greening and increasing biodiversity, the current plan set a high environmental standard for new development”

While London’s proud history of requiring high environmental standards for development must shape our future approach, it cannot be used to justify blocking new homes. We urgently need to confront the housing crisis: one in 21 children are officially homeless and London boroughs spend £4m a day on temporary accommodation. This has led the government to set London’s annual need assessment at 88,000 homes a year, far more than we’ve ever built before.

It’s a huge challenge, but one we must do everything in our power to meet. The next plan presents a real opportunity to do so – if we take a bolder approach. We must make best use of the land we have, increase housing density and secure as many homes as possible on brownfield sites.

But with the next plan expected to identify space for the best part of a million homes, that still won’t be enough; we need to explore building on London’s green belt.

Good planning is about helping cities solve problems, prevent new ones and adapt to change. The sustainability requirements initiated by the current plan lay a solid foundation on which to build a framework for the next, which will ensure that nature is incorporated throughout any developments brought forward on the green belt.

Releasing some green belt land in the right way could not only deliver tens of thousands of new affordable homes for Londoners, but also support environmental goals. The plan will make best use of land to minimise any release and ensure it’s done in the greenest way possible: building sustainable, liveable neighbourhoods with links to existing or future public transport connections; restoring natural habitats; and improving the quality, quantity and accessibility of green spaces.

“To ensure that housing delivery and good environmental policy can go hand in hand, the next plan will establish a framework that creates value for local communities”

A strategic approach to green belt release that optimises public benefits is far preferable to the piecemeal consideration of ad hoc applications. Speculative proposals characterised by high-carbon, car-dependent, low-density development do not align with the mayor’s vision for good growth to make London a greener and more nature-rich city.

To ensure that housing delivery and good environmental policy can go hand in hand, the next plan will establish a framework that creates value for local communities, whether that’s improving the quality and accessibility of green spaces or delivering new public parks for Londoners.

And we will not be starting with a blank sheet of paper. Look at Kidbrooke Village in Greenwich, where we launched the ongoing Towards a new London Plan consultation. Or Ridgeway Views, a grey belt site that was formerly the National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill East, and now provides 189 homes set in 47 acres of countryside. And we have Woodberry Down in north London, a sustainable regeneration project delivering over 5,000 new homes with new green and open spaces.

These are all real-world examples of how housing delivery and nature can be complementary to each other, and the London Plan’s policy requirements have played a role in their design. Credit must also go to developers that have taken those requirements forward, or in some cases gone further, demonstrating that growth and nature recovery can be delivered together.

I welcome ideas from environmental campaigners and experts who can help us ensure that, in planning for the homes that Londoners need, we also make the green belt greener – by which I mean it is characterised by greater biodiversity and nature recovery, not simply the absence of housing.

As the next draft plan is developed, we must all work together to build a greener and fairer London for everyone.

Jules Pipe, deputy mayor of London for planning, regeneration and skills