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Sadiq Khan accused of ‘waging war on the suburbs’
London mayor Sadiq Khan is “waging a war on the suburbs” and implementing housing policies that will lead to the overdevelopment of outer London, a new report from a Conservative London Assembly member has claimed.
Sadiq Khan accused of ‘waging war on the suburbs’ #ukhousingA report authored by Andrew Boff, a Conservative member of the London Assembly housing committee, has called on the mayor to urgently alter his housing policies and come up with a “suburbs strategy” that will protect outer London boroughs from overdevelopment.
The report criticised the mayor’s draft new London Plan claiming that the removal of density limits and targets for family-sized homes presented big threats to London’s suburban character.
The mayor’s office hit back at Mr Boff’s report, saying his plans would result in fewer social and affordable homes being built and would extend the housing crisis for another generation.
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Mr Boff said that the removal of density limits from new plan would put more pressure on the capital’s 19 outer London boroughs to approve denser and taller buildings in these areas, and local residents will have less powers to resist unwanted developments.
He added that the removal of ‘policy 3.5’, which gives councils powers to protect back gardens from development, from the new London Plan would lead to London hundreds of gardens being lost every year and replaced by new developments.
Mr Boff said: “Sadiq Khan is waging war on the suburbs, his approach to development rides roughshod over local factors and increasingly treats outer London in the same way as inner London.
“[Mr] Khan is making it easier to squeeze small housing units into back gardens while preventing family-sized homes from being built on unused industrial land.”
The report recommended that the mayor reinstate the density matrix present in previous London Plans, as well as restore the existing protection set out in the current plan into his new London Plan.
The report also raised concerns over the current planning and funding system saying that housing targets skewed it towards smaller units and neglects family sized homes.
In May, Mr Khan published his London Housing Strategy which set out targets to build 65,000 homes a year in the capital based on local targets.
Mr Boff’s report says that while previous mayoral housing strategies have set out targets on the minimum number of family homes would be built over four years, Mr Khan’s current strategy which was published in May doesn’t.
He urged the mayor to bring back investment targets for family-sized homes in his London Housing Strategy as well as allow boroughs to set targets for family-sized homes for all tenures, based on local need.
A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said: “The mayor makes no apologies for building record numbers of social homes and genuinely affordable housing.
“His ambitious plan identifies space for new homes without building on the green belt.
“It incentivises developers to build social and affordable homes rather than luxury penthouse apartments and makes boroughs set requirements for family-sized homes at low-cost rents.”
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