London planning news, November 2019

Draft New London Plan Panel Report issued

The Panel of Inspectors examining the Mayor’s draft London Plan issued their report to him on 8 October and it was made public on 21 October.

The Panel has prepared a 125 page report with a non-technical summary and annexed table of recommendations. The draft New London Plan has been found sound[1] and in accordance with the relevant legislation and national policy subject to the Panel’s recommendations.

The Mayor must now submit to the Secretary of State (SoS) the version of the draft Plan that he intends to publish, together with (if applicable) a statement of his reasons for not accepting the recommendations of the Panel Report. The SoS will then have up to six weeks to decide whether or not to direct amendments.

The Examination in Public webpage indicates that the Mayor intends to publish the final London Plan in February or March 2020.

The Panel’s recommendations of particular note include:

• Reduced housing targets and small sites targets to be more realistic and increasing the gap between need and supply
  
  
• Modifying Green Belt policy in order that it reflects national policy
  
  
• More industrial land is required or existing industrial land should be used more intensively; London’s future industrial land needs are probably higher than is assumed in the draft Plan mainly because of growth in demand for storage and warehousing within and close to urban locations.
  
  
• Making nomination agreements between universities and student accommodation providers can be a protracted process; consequently the draft Plan’s requirement for such agreements might discourage delivery and should be removed; policy encouragement is sufficient
  
  
• Policy DF1, which expects that viability testing is normally only undertaken on a site-specific basis where there are clear circumstances creating barriers to delivery, should be modified to ensure that the expectations relating to site specific viability assessments only apply where relevant policies in local plans are up to date.
  
  
• The Mayor should commit to instigating and leading a London-wide accommodation assessment for gypsies and travellers, reflecting the fact that London is a single housing market as well as ensuring a consistent methodology and including those on the move
  
  
• Policy T8 and its reasoned justification, which says the Mayor will oppose the expansion of Heathrow Airport unless certain tests are met. should be deleted as it is is fundamentally inconsistent with national policy

The Panel has implied that given the time it would take to make major revisions to the document it made some concessions over how far reaching its recommendations are. These are in terms of the draft Plan’s focus on detailed means of implementation rather than a concise development strategy focused on strategic outcomes, and in respect of a review of the Green Belt or discussions with wider South East local authorities regarding housing land supply being essential to increasing housing delivery. These amendments are considered necessary, but to be taken on board in a future Plan.

In terms of housing supply the Panel has concluded that the 2017 Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) provides a reliable starting point for the housing needs of London, agreeing that 66,000 additional homes per year is properly calculated, a need of 660,000 homes over 2019-2029. But in terms of meeting that need, the Panel’s findings diverge from the Mayor’s approach which relied heavily on theoretical small site capacity modelling contained within the SHLAA. The draft Plan proposed a 10-year capacity-based target of 649,350 homes with a target for 245,730 on small sites (below 0.25 hectares in size). But the Panel recommends cutting the small sites target to 119,250 and hence overall delivery target to 522,850 (a 19.5% reduction) citing that they are “sceptical about the delivery” from small sites and that the assumed delivery from this source was not “realistically achievable”.

The Panel Report says:

The implication of this is an increase in London’s unmet housing need, which under the Panel’s recommendations would crystallise at c.14,000 homes per year. The Panel highlights that “it is a major concern that the targets are so far below the assessed need”, but whilst noting that addressing the issue would likely require considerations of Green Belt review or co-operation with local authorities in the wider south-east indicate it is better to “proceed on the basis of an adopted plan rather than one that is in limbo.”

Flowing from the headline number, the Panel report confirms the principle of the housing requirement operating as 10-year targets, rather than annualised numbers, with a need for the Mayor to take a leading role in setting a trajectory for how that target will be met. Initial analysis by Lichfields indicates any trajectory will need to ramp up delivery over the decade from 32,000 new homes last year, to close to 70,000 homes per year by 2028-29, doubling output over the life of the Plan (see Figure one).

 

A series of Lichfields’ Planning Matters blogs on the Panel’s recommendations will be published soon.

 

The Mayor has held a Homes for Londoners conference “making clear to homebuilders his priority is council, social rented, and other genuinely affordable housing, and that development must win the support of Londoners”. According to the Mayor’s press release, the conference focused on the Mayor’s pledge to encourage Good Growth by Design and provided an opportunity for industry to meet with representatives from London boroughs to discuss their property needs.

 

The SoS has allowed an appeal against the decision of the London Borough of Harrow Council (LBH) (under direction from the Mayor of London) to refuse planning permission for (amongst other things) construction of a new sports building over 3 levels (7269 sqm) and a new science building over 3 levels (3675 sqm). He concluded:

The SoS also awarded Harrow School full costs arising from unnecessary or wasted expense incurred in the appeal process on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour on the part of the Mayor of London. The costs are to be agreed, the Mayor’s own costs having been approved up to £135,000.