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Why our Lib Dem-Green council is challenging the cut to London’s affordable housing requirements
Southwark, like the rest of London, needs more homes. But increasing supply should not come at the expense of affordability, writes Victor Chamberlain, deputy leader of Southwark Council and executive member for strategic planning
Victor Chamberlain is a Liberal Democrat councillor at Southwark Council
Southwark, like the rest of London, needs more homes. But increasing supply should not come at the expense of affordability, writes Victor Chamberlain, deputy leader of Southwark Council and executive member for strategic planning #UKhousingThere is a growing narrative in housing policy that London must choose between building more homes and securing more affordable housing. That is a false choice.
Nobody disputes the scale of the challenge. Housing delivery has slowed, development viability remains under pressure and councils across the capital are struggling with rising housing waiting lists and increasing temporary accommodation costs.
We urgently need more homes. But we also need to be honest about what kind of homes Londoners need most.
In Southwark, more than 23,000 households are on the housing waiting list and over 4,300 families are living in temporary accommodation. For them, the housing crisis is not simply about supply. It is about affordability.
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That is why Southwark Council’s new Liberal Democrat-Green joint administration has decided to support the judicial review against the mayor of London and government’s decision to reduce affordable housing requirements from 35% to 20%.
We have taken this decision because we are concerned that lowering affordable housing expectations will mean fewer affordable homes without tackling the real causes of stalled housing delivery.
The intention behind the reforms is understandable. Ministers and City Hall want to get London building again. Yet the capital’s development slowdown has not been caused by affordable housing requirements alone.
Developers across London continue to face high construction costs, expensive finance, labour shortages and wider economic uncertainty. These challenges have fundamentally changed the economics of housebuilding.
Reducing affordable housing requirements may improve viability on some sites. But it does little to address the structural barriers that are constraining delivery across the market. What it will almost certainly do is reduce the number of affordable homes secured through the planning system.
Affordable housing policies remain one of the most important tools available to local authorities. Lowering the benchmark inevitably lowers what councils can negotiate from development.
There is also a risk that reduced expectations become normalised, weakening affordable housing delivery far beyond the schemes currently coming forward.
The consequence could be fewer affordable homes without a significant increase in overall housing numbers. That would represent the worst of both worlds.
“Supporting this judicial review is not an argument against growth or development”
The debate should not be whether London chooses housebuilding or affordable housing. The challenge is how we achieve both.
If we want to increase housing delivery over the long term, we need a more resilient and diverse housebuilding model. That means supporting housing associations, community-led housing, small and medium-sized builders and, crucially, giving councils the powers and resources to build at scale once again.
Local authorities understand housing need, have a long-term stake in successful communities and can help deliver the genuinely affordable homes that the market alone is often unable to provide.
Supporting this judicial review is not an argument against growth or development. Southwark wants to see more homes built and built faster. But increasing supply should not come at the expense of affordability.
London needs more homes. But it also needs more genuinely affordable homes. If we lower our ambitions on affordability without addressing the deeper barriers to delivery, we risk achieving neither objective.
Victor Chamberlain, deputy leader and executive member for strategic planning, Southwark Council
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