The Government and the Mayor of London have now announced the awaited ‘Emergency Measures’ package to help boost housing and affordable housing development in the capital, following recent record-low levels of housebuilding. The Package for London (subject to consultation) seeks to ease some of the planning barriers facing the sector, including amending affordable housing/ viability requirements, CIL relief, and introducing greater design flexibility. We set out in this note further detail on the package proposals and our commentary ahead of formal consultation.
As the Mayor identifies in the press release accompanying the Package for London, there is a “perfect storm facing housebuilding in London” and, given the reliance which the Government is placing on London delivering to meet its overall 1.5 million homes target, the hope is that these measures will stimulate development in London and get the capital back on track.
Whilst many of the issues facing the sector lie outside of planning, it is no secret that the headline affordable housing threshold requirements have simply become too challenging for schemes to conceivably deliver, often ending in stalled schemes or decision via appeal. Newmark and Town Legal advised on the recent successful Stag Brewery appeal, where the provision of affordable housing was the key consideration by the Inspector.
Broadly speaking, the ‘Emergency Measures’ package is split into five ‘core components’:
- Introduction of new ‘time-limited’ planning route and associated affordable housing thresholdreduction to 20%, with 60% of this as social rent; Schemes which meet the eligibility criteria will not be required to provide an upfront viability assessment.
- Temporary 50% Borough CIL relief;
- Design flexibility to encourage greater density/optimisation;
- Increased Mayoral planning powers; and
- Funding via the ‘City Hall Developer Investment Fund’.
The Package is clear that these measures do not apply to student housing or co-living schemes, only residential (including Build to Rent). We assume, though not explicit, that the revised threshold will not apply to Estate Regeneration schemes or off site solutions, but will await the final consultation documents for confirmation.
Download the PDF to learn more about ‘Emergency Measures’ to incentivise housing development in London.
