London planning news, June 2019

London Plan EiP update

On 23 May, the draft London Plan’s Examination in Public (EiP) concluded, following 34 days of hearing sessions held over a period of four months.

The EiP Panel will now write up their final report over the next few months, setting out their recommendations for the Mayor; their report is currently scheduled for submission in September 2019.

Policy matters discussed during the final month of hearing sessions ranged from social infrastructure transport and aviation, to town centres and retail, as well as viability.

On social infrastructure, most participants at the session agreed with the principles and approach set out in Policy S1, though concerns were raised as to whether contributions from new development alone would be enough to ensure adequate delivery, especially regarding the provision of local health care and schools.

On retailing and town centres, there was a general consensus that the GLA’s Town Centre Network policies were appropriate, however, some participants noted that Policy SD7 did not align with national policy. A number of the big retailers present at the session felt that the Policy, which specifically seeks to discourage out-of-centre development, was unnecessary where proposals had already conformed with sequential and impact tests.

The Mayor also announced the addition of a new paragraph, which aims to recognise and protect the role that specific town centres and high streets play for communities, in serving different cultural and religious needs.

Interestingly, policies relating to hot food takeaways in the Plan were a real point of contention. The hearing session shone light on the complex interplay of health, inequality, class and ethnicity, whilst also posing questions as to the effectiveness of the use class system, the prescriptiveness of the new Plan, and whether direct causal links must be proven for policies to be introduced.

Viability was discussed across two dedicated hearing sessions. Concerns were raised over the methodology of the London Plan Viability Study, especially regarding the assumptions of the typology approach used for assessments. Other questions were raised as to whether it was appropriate to test viability at a strategic level at all, with some participants arguing that the appraisal of schemes should be left instead to the boroughs.

Following the closing of the EiP hearings, the Panel published a final note outlining the next steps to be taken. The note confirms that the Mayor will publish an updated version of the draft London Plan by the end of June, which will incorporate all the minor and further suggested changes that have been put forward, whilst also setting out other key dates moving forward.

A finalised version of the new London Plan is currently expected to be published early 2020, though the timing of this will be largely dependent on the extent of the Inspectors’ recommendations.

Lichfields attended a number of key hearing sessions and reported on some of the main highlights. For further information, check the London Plan EiP blog series on Lichfields’ website.

The Community Infrastructure Levy (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019 were made on 22 May and came into force on 23 May 2019.

The Regulations amend Regulation 60 (‘Reimbursement of expenditure incurred and repayment of loans’) to allow the Mayor to apply the Mayoral CIL to repay any money borrowed by the Greater London Authority or Transport for London, in connection to the Crossrail project, and any related interest (until 31 March 2033).

The new provisions will facilitate GLA borrowing against future MCIL2 receipts, in order to fund the extra costs that have arisen following the delays affecting the launch of Crossrail 1, as outlined in a Mayoral Decision made published on 4 February 2019.

On 10 May, the Mayor announced that more affordable homes were started in the year 2018-2019 than in any previous year since 2012, when City Hall took charge of housing investment within London.

Statistics published by the Mayor’s office reveal that 14,544 new affordable homes were started in the year to 1 April 2019. Interestingly, 3,991 of these were at social rent levels and 1,916 were built by councils, highlighting the recent resurgence in local authority building.

Whilst the achievement is to be welcomed, the Mayor still has some way to go if he is to achieve his target of delivering 116,000 affordable homes starts by 2022, as set out in his £4.8bn funding agreement with central Government.

In November 2018, the London Assembly published its monitoring report on the Mayor’s progress, which revealed that in the year 2017-2018 less than 5,500 affordable homes had been completed.

In related news, the Mayor has invited 15 groups from across the voluntary and community sectors onto a new panel, to support the GLA in developing future housing policies for London.