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Housing secretary James Brokenshire has attacked Sadiq Khan’s London Plan for allowing building on people’s gardens.
In a letter to the mayor, he threatened to use his powers to intervene if the plan – the mayor’s spatial development strategy for the capital – is not changed to reflect the recently published National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
As well as instructing Mr Khan to remove his policy allowing development on residential gardens, he criticised “the detail and complexity” of the policies, saying they “have the potential to limit accessibility to the planning system and development”.
He went on to say that the draft plan “strays considerably beyond providing a strategic framework” and that it does not provide enough information about how its increased housing targets will be delivered.
Mr Brokenshire also criticised the mayor for including fire safety measures in the London Plan, a move taken by Mr Khan in response to the Grenfell Tower fire.
The draft plan requires a variety of fire safety features to be included in every development proposal, a move that was endorsed at the time by the London Fire Brigade.
Mr Brokenshire wrote: “It is important that there is a consistent approach to setting building standards through the framework of building regulations.”
Ordinarily, the London Plan would be required to conform with the NPPF, the government’s spatial development strategy for the country.
In the new version of this framework, this was changed so that the London Plan and other similar plans would only be required to conform with the previous version of the NPPF, but would be encouraged to conform with the new one.
A City Hall spokesperson said: “With Sadiq as mayor, City Hall started building more genuinely affordable homes – including more social homes – last year than in any since devolution. This was despite the huge government cuts to housing funding.
“The evidence speaks for itself: more genuinely affordable and social homes under this mayor and nothing but abject failure from the current government.
“The capital generates £3bn each year in stamp duty receipts for the Treasury, but currently sees less than a quarter of that money invested in new affordable homes.
“Rather than criticising the mayor’s ambitious plan and plucking new numbers out of thin air, ministers should meet with him to discuss the powers and investment London urgently needs.”
Picture: Getty
Social rent: The amount of social rent a person pays depends on the location and size of the property, and is set according to a complex formula, but it is typically set at between 50% and 60% of market rent.
Affordable rent: Introduced by the coalition government in 2011, ‘affordable’ rent can be up to 80% of market rent, although many associations have been charging lower than this.
London Affordable Rent: A tenure introduced by Sadiq Khan that is lower than national affordable rent and based on target rent levels towards which social rents are gradually being raised. This makes it higher than average social rents in the capital, but in line with the rent that would likely be charged if a new social rent unit was built and set according to the same formula.
London Living Rent: A rental product aimed at middle-income Londoners introduced by Sadiq Khan, with rents set at one-third of average local earnings.
Target rent: A social rent level calculated by the government, which council and housing associations should use to move their social rents to over time.