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Planning inspectors tell Sadiq Khan to cut sites for 126,500 homes from London Plan
London mayor Sadiq Khan has been advised by planning inspectors to cut sites for 126,500 homes out of his 10-year plan for the capital.
Inspectors said in a report that they do not believe that the homes in question – slated for delivery through small sites in outer London – are deliverable and that the homes should be removed from housing targets set for the 32 boroughs.
The recommendation covers homes of all kinds and is not binding on Mr Khan, who intends to submit a further version of the plan to housing secretary Robert Jenrick.
Mr Khan’s plan called for 649,350 new homes over the 2019-20 to 2028-29 period, but the inspectors said this should be only 522,850.
This is because they reduced the contribution from small sites from 245,730 homes to only 119,250.
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Richard Brown, research director at thinktank Centre for London, said: “The inspectors supported the mayor’s proposals on affordable housing but it is a good question whether the amount of homes in the plan is deliverable.
“There’s 30,000 a year being built so getting up to the 52,000 the inspectors propose is a big increase and the 65,000 proposed by the mayor would be even greater.
“I think [what the inspectors suggest] would leave London able to meet demand from population growth but not tackle its backlog.”
In their report, the inspectors said that the mayor had used an “arbitrary growth assumption” for smaller sites and so expected an unrealistic increase in the number of homes delivered.
They said: “The consequence of this is to question whether the targets are realistically achievable. The short answer is that they would not be and hence they are not justified.”
Inspectors said that the mayor’s figures would demand an increase in homes on small sites of 250% across outer London boroughs with “at its most extreme” a target 700% increase in Bexley.
This would require “a massive uplift in delivery especially in outer London, which is highly unlikely to occur based on the available evidence”, they concluded.
The inspectors urged Mr Khan to look instead to a review of the green belt for possible sites, but Mr Brown said that course was “likely to prove more popular with planners than with national politicians or the general public”.
Jules Pipe, London’s deputy mayor for planning, regeneration and skills, said: “The mayor makes no apologies for his ambitious plans to build more homes for London – particularly genuinely affordable homes.
“We have to maximise opportunities to meet London’s housing needs and small sites have significant potential to deliver homes Londoners urgently need. These sites, particularly in outer London, must play a greater role.”
Mr Khan said he was considering the inspectors’ recommendations and would send his responses and a new version of the plan to Mr Jenrick by the end of the year.
