Forum Topic

London's housing starts crisis

Although the article on the front page is focused on Ealing, the overall London numbers are so low that it can only be assumed that similar trends have been seen in Hounslow. For anyone paying attention this should not have come as a surprise even though the numbers are shocking when laid out in full detail.The developing crisis in housing starts in London has been a slow car crash. It has come about not because there is no demand or because house builders don’t want to build but because of the financial situation of affordable housing providers.The Watermans Arts Centre project is just one of many examples of a housing association not being able to take on the affordable units allocated and therefore blocking an otherwise ‘shovel ready’ project.This situation has come about due to a combination of inflation and well meaning legislation such as Awaab’s Law meant to protect tenants but which has significantly increased the cost of housing provision.The time has come to accept that ‘affordable’ housing targets are contributing to homes becoming more unaffordable to all both in terms of rent and sales price.As there is no government funding available to sort out this problem, the solution can only come from the private sector. Nobody actually builds an ‘unaffordable’ home – house builders will build homes that people want to buy.While it is clear that social rent homes are still needed for those in real need, much of the ‘affordable’ units supplied in London are of the intermediate kind which are essentially subsidised housing for relatively well-off people. Even these are not serving their intended purpose with shared ownership brewing up to be a major scandal over the next few years with so many people who bought them ending up being on the hook for huge sums.One way to revive housing starts in London would be to tell developers that already consented projects would be relieved of the obligation to deliver intermediate affordable units and would get a Community Infrastructure Levy payment holiday or reduction if the homes were ready for occupation by a certain date.Going forward the whole strategy of affordable housing needs to be rethought but the obvious step would be to give local authorities a fixed delivery target rather than one set as a percentage of all new homes.

Francis Rowe ● 17d4 Comments

Planning has become incredibly complex and bureaucratic and so things get lost in implementation.  I'm told that Planning should be simplified while Building Control needs to be enhanced and diligent.  Simplifying planning will save time and money for everybody and result in focus on the important planning issues. However stronger and enhanced Building Control is needed to protect the public.At present a Planning Application requires Reports on every single aspect of creating the building before even the principle of allowing it has been agreed.  This makes the process of applying for Planning Permission very expensive and lengthy.  At conclusion a Planning Permission if granted will often be subject to endless Conditions - many of which can be challenged adding to the cost and time.  And the number of them makes it difficult and costly for a Local Authority to check compliance. The answer is to focus Planning on Planning Issues such as Use, Size, Shape etc.  Leave Compliance with Building Control aspects such as Energy, Sustainability, Construction Methodology etc to an Enhanced Building Control Regime.  This will save Developers and Local Authorities massive amounts of money and shorten the time to certainty of planning acceptability.It seems normal nowadays to spend several MILLION pounds making a substantial Planning Application and to take two or three years to get to a decision point when the application may be arbitrarily refused.  Planning therefore becomes a Developers' lottery.The deregulation that happened resulted in hideous problems the fallout of which we are still enduring with cladding still being updated, construction faults being fixed and people still having to have 24 hr walking fire security for their safety.  Many can't sell.  The cost to everyone has been huge.  Proceed with great care!   

Philippa Bond ● 16d

I don't think I agree that the cut in housing targets for London made sense - fine to increase targets across the rest of the country, but slashing both the target for number of homes built and affordable homes built in the area where demand is greatest was hugely counterproductive. Agree with the need for urgent planning reform - it doesn't matter which party fixes it (and I say that as a local Conservative Councillor!), but something urgently needs to be done... although it's unfortunately pretty clear that the current government has totally abandoned most of its previous ambitions to overhaul the system and build the homes we need.

Jack Emsley ● 16d

The Deputy Prime Minister's cut in London's housing targets made sense at the time. The capital was being asked to do all the heavy lifting meaning the areas with the highest population density was where more building was taking place.The thinking was that planning reform could bring in more green belt (not actual green fields but land suitable for development in less populated areas) for housing. This doesn't seem to have worked although it may take more time to see any benefit.Obviously Labour have to take most of the blame for this crisis but the system that brought us here was developed under Tory governments. To me it shows how far the party has strayed from its roots in allowing the narrative to take hold that somehow housebuilders were greedy and unscrupulous , couldn't be trust to deliver low cost housing and that they had to shoulder the burden of providing infrastructure and services. This has lead to triple taxation of housebuilding - regular tax, the affordability requirements and Section 106/CIL payments. It isn't a mystery why houses aren't being built but I am hearing absolutely nothing radical from the Conservatives on how we deal with this crisis.

Francis Rowe ● 16d

Probably not helped either by having a London mayor who's obsessed with just one subject!

Peter King ● 17d

The same data quoted in that article shows Hounslow had just 38 affordable housing starts in 24/25. In the first three months of this financial year, there was just 1 (one!) affordable start in our borough. The problem is acute in London (we’re the worst area in the country for affordable housing starts despite having the most need) - the issue is that, more widely, we’re not building enough homes. Fewer homes being built means fewer affordable homes. One thing that certainly hasn’t helped was Angela Rayner’s inexplicable decision to slash housing targets in London (in Hounslow we saw housing targets cut by 40%, despite a massive increase in need).

Jack Emsley ● 17d