As part of the Government’s drive to build 1.5 million new homes in this Parliament, the Mayor of London and the Government have developed a package of support for housebuilding in the capital. HOMES FOR LONDON A PACKAGE OF SUPPORT FOR HOUSEBUILDING IN THE CAPITAL sets out several support mechanisms to boost housebuilding in London which will be consulted on over six weeks starting from November. The document recognises the ‘significant challenges’ for housebuilding in London including “the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, high interest rates, spiralling construction costs, regulatory blockers and wider economic conditions”.

The proposed measures are as follows:

1. temporary relief from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), including 50 per cent of borough CIL relief available for qualifying schemes which commit to delivering at least 20 per cent affordable housing in line with the new time-limited planning route, and additional relief available at higher levels of affordable housing.
2. “the removal of elements of guidance that can constrain density, including standards relating to dual aspect and units around the core, and amendments to cycle storage requirements”.
3. “a time-limited planning route, enabling developers to secure planning permission without a viability assessment on private land where they commit to 20 per cent affordable housing, of which half will be eligible to receive grant funding, with a gain-share mechanism to increase affordable delivery on sites that continue into the next decade where market conditions improve”;
4. “new powers for the Mayor of London to review and call-in applications of schemes of over 50 homes where a borough is minded to refuse, and to call-in development proposed on the Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Land, with the intention of supporting additional delivery – as well as powers to streamline the Mayor’s decision making on called in applications, and to make Mayoral Development Orders for strategic schemes without the need for borough consent”; and
5. “funding to establish a City Hall Developer Investment Fund – with an initial allocation of £322m of grant investment to enable the Mayor to unlock and accelerate housing delivery”. Further details relating to this will be set out “in due course”.

Read more here and do get in contact with us if you’d like further advice on schemes:

support-for-house-building-in-london.pdf