The Further Alterations to the London Plan (2011) examination sessions began this week and I attended the affordable housing and older person housing session on Thursday. The session stimulated some interesting debates and focused on three key issues, these were:

- Whether more can be done to boost the supply of affordable housing closer to the identified level of need;
- The merits of the new eligibility criteria to qualify for intermediate housing; and
- If the policy of setting a target for the delivery of older person housing units was appropriate;

Discussion on the first topic centred on why the GLA had chosen not to increase their numerical affordable housing target proportionately to the general market housing target. A number of interest groups were pushing for a return to a 50% percentage target of the 2004 London Plan. However, the Inspector was clear that despite the overwhelming need for affordable housing, without any viability evidence on deliverability of this target he could not recommend any amendment to the policy.

With regards to the discussion on eligibility criteria for intermediate housing, the Mayor is seeking to limit the period within which intermediate housing is only made available to local people to no more than first three months of marketing. A number of local authorities were pushing for more clarity within the policy and officers agreed to look at this again.

The debate on the new older person housing targets exposed significant disagreement between City Hall and a number of the Boroughs on this issue. The Mayor is proposing the introduction of ‘benchmark targets’ for each Borough within The London Plan and breaks these down in to different tenures, including private market. This reflects the changes in national policy which places a greater emphasis on increasing housing choice for older people. A number of local authorities opposed the introduction of targets on the basis that difficulties involved with defining older person housing meant monitoring this policy would prove impossible. Other authorities thought the best way they could help to deliver housing for an ageing population was through focusing their resources on delivering care at home or as part of a more institutional offer. I will return to this issue at a later date, but the debate highlighted some major delivery issues for this policy as local authorities get to grips with the new requirements in the NPPF to start delivering housing choice for older people.