The Mayor puts forward his revised strategy to radically increase housing supply by unveiling ‘Further Alterations to the London Plan’
Following the release of recent census data which sees London’s population soring to c.10 million inhabitants by 2030, the GLA has published ‘Further Alterations to the London Plan’ (FALP); seeking to boost housing delivery to 42,000 homes a year whilst generating all important employment opportunities. The required number of new homes has risen by approximately 10,000 compared to targets first outlined in 2012. Projections are in line with those set out in the Mayor’s Housing Strategy launched last November and sees significant increases in targets across many key London Boroughs.
The Mayor is relying heavily on London’s ‘Opportunity Areas’ where proposed housing numbers are to significantly increase, a number of new areas have also been identified. Higher-density residential development within these areas is being particularly encouraged alongside intensification of town centre developments. On paper, this provides a promising basis for future developments across a number of localities:
• City Fringe - Increase densities to raise residential in Whitechapel & Shoreditch to 8,700 new homes;
• Earls Court & West Kensington- Double the number of homes to 7,500 and increased jobs to 9,500;
• Euston - Double the number of homes to 1,800 with a further 2,700 jobs;
• Kensal Canalside - Increase from 2,000 to 3,500 new homes;
• Vauxhall/Nine Elms - Increase from 10,000 to 20,000 homes.
Five new Opportunity Areas have also been announced namely the Old Kent Road Corridor, Canada Water, Harrow and Wealdstone, Bromley Town Centre and perhaps of greatest significance, the area of Old Oak Common is also identified for significant change alongside plans for a new High Speed 2 and Crossrail interchange station, which will help to ‘transform the area into a thriving new district with up to 24,000 new homes and 50,000 jobs. ’
The GLA have also announced plans for the introduction of further ‘Mayoral Development Corporations’, which could see the Mayor in collaboration with local authorities adopt specific planning powers for larger areas, much like the London Legacy Development Corporation (2012) giving investors greater certainty over investment in supporting infrastructure.
The FALP also covers other key areas surrounding:
• An increase in cycle parking standards;
• Revisions to waste policies;
• A new policy which will expect developers to liaise with Gas and Electricity providers with regard to Capacity and Infrastructure prior to submission of planning applications; and
• Policy alterations which support greater flexibility and creativity over employment use stimulating growth in outer London Town Centres such as, Croydon.
These increases in housing supply present the development industry with new opportunities; the strategy would appear to be higher density developments in key locations. However, this will create inevitable conflicts with GLA and Local design policies when balancing potentially conflicting issues such as amenity space, car parking and dwelling mix.This will largely determine how successful the strategy will be.
Even with these increased numbers, questions remain over whether the new targets will genuinely address London’s housing crisis - the most recent London Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) indicates that London will require between approximately 49,000 and 62,000 more homes a year (over the period 2015-2036).
It can be seen that further challenges lie ahead for the Mayor in addressing the housing shortage.
Consultation surrounding the FALP is now open for a twelve week period from Wednesday 15 January to Thursday 10 April 2014 (5:00pm). A link to the full FALP and supporting evidence such as the London SHLAA & SHMA can be found here:
For further information, or to discuss the implications of these announcements please contact either Lyndon Gill, Lucy Howes, or your usual contact at Iceni.