The government has asked London mayor Sadiq Khan to more than double the number of new homes being built in the capital each year.
In a letter to Khan, deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, said achieving the party’s manifesto commitment of delivering 1.5 million new homes in the next five years was a key priority for the government and an “essential prerequisite of this is reform of the planning system”.
As part of its proposed reforms of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the government intends to introduce a new standard method for assessing housing needs, and Rayner said the current method, which applies an arbitrary 35% uplift to each and every London borough, “results in a target for the capital that is divorced from reality”.
She continued: “It effectively made tens of thousands of homes a fiction, existing on paper but never realistically planned for, when if reallocated to other places these numbers could have been delivered. The government is clear that it needs revision.
“Our proposed new standard method produces an ambitious but deliverable figure for London of nearly 81,000. To achieve it, output in the capital will have to increase markedly from the current average of 37,200 homes per year. I appreciate fully the scale and breadth of the housing delivery challenge in London, and I recognise that the city faces unique issues, but the government does expect London to take steps to boost its output.”
Rayner said that as a “demonstration of the government’s commitment to working in partnership” with Khan she was withdrawing Michael Gove’s directive issued on 18 March 2024 requiring the Greater London Assembly to complete a partial review of the London Plan by 30 September 2024.
“It is my considered view that a review of industrial land and opportunity area policies is better undertaken as part of the wider London Plan review that you are due to undertake to adopt an updated plan, given that these elements cannot be meaningfully considered in isolation,” added Rayner. “Withdrawing the direction will allow the government and the Greater London Authority to take a new partnership approach on our shared aim to deliver the homes London needs. This will be critical to achieving our joint goal of tackling the housing crisis.”
Rayner said the housing minister Matthew Pennycook will lead a roundtable with stakeholders to discuss ways to increase housing delivery and will work closely with Khan’s deputy mayors to “take forward key strategic priorities with the sector over the upcoming months”.
