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Towards a new London Plan: All eyes on housing

The consultation document published in early May makes it clear that housing delivery is a key focus for the next London Plan, with pressing need exacerbated by limited completions over recent years, and the Mayor aligned with national Government on the need for a hugely ambitious uplift in delivery. In the below, Director, Oliver Jefferson, summarises the major themes from the consultation document, related to housing.

The consultation document opens for discussion a number of over-arching themes, which will influence the planning and delivery of new homes:

  • Considering the policy burden, individually and cumulatively, on the viability of development.
  • Reviewing the role of the London Plan as a strategic document and its relationship to national and borough policy and Building Regulations.
  • Balancing optimisation of urban land with a strategic approach to selective Green Belt development.
  • The need for infrastructure investment and public subsidy to underpin delivery, though without clarity on how to tackle uncertainty in this respect.

Consistency in key policy areas

At this stage, it appears that consistency will be retained in a number of key policy areas:

  • The intention is for no increase to the overall policy burden and there is reference to streamlining requirements to speed up determination; however, there appears to be no clear commitment to a fundamental reduction in the policy burden.
  • Similarly, there appears to be no fundamental shifts in approach, to match the magnitude of the increased housing target, rather a more nuanced review of policy and a reliance on external factors including infrastructure delivery, together with new sources of land in the Green Belt.
  • The central focus on affordable housing will remain, as anticipated, and the GLA continues to view policy as an effective tool to depress land value, the logic on which the Fast Track approach rests.
  • There is a continued and perhaps increased degree of support for variety in the housing market, including Build to Rent, Co-Living, later living as well as for-sale housing.
  • Public land will continue to be the increasingly important source of London’s land supply.
  • There is reference to opportunities for planning for growth across the wider South East, but we don’t expect that this will extend to an integrated approach to the wider South East housing market and land supply, which may be considered relevant to a range of matters, including Green Belt release.

Topics for discussion

There is substantial scope for a revised approach to how housing schemes in London would be determined under the new plan:

  • Commitment to the Government’s housing target of 88,000 homes per year will require a wholesale change to policy and practice if it is to be achieved.
  • Potential to enhance the already important role of Opportunity Areas, for example, through engaging with the New Towns Taskforce.
  • The balance between Social Rented homes and Intermediate homes is under review, with an expectation of further emphasis on Social Rented (per the GLA’s Accelerating Housing Delivery document issued in December) - though with concurrent consideration of an additional intermediate tenure, Key Worker Living Rent.
  • Potential for the GLA to take a more strategic role in the supply and effects of PBSA on housing mix across London, supplementing and potentially co-ordinating the role of boroughs.
  • Potential for a more significant GLA role in London’s housing size mix, though perhaps at this stage this seems more likely to be left to boroughs, which avoid duplication.
  • Welcome discussion around the role of planning policy relative to building regulations in a range of areas, including housing quality, sustainability and fire safety.
  • Review of cycle parking standards, presenting a timely opportunity for the sector to provide real-life evidence of take-up and to review often significant under-utilised space (with implications for sustainability and build costs).
  • Further emphasis on the need for the Fast Track to be set at the London level and applied consistently across all boroughs.
  • Perhaps most tantalisingly, reference to reviewing the Fast Track threshold requirements, particularly in relation to specific types of development, as well as a potential intervention into affordable housing requirements for minor schemes.

Overall, there are a number of important topics on which feedback and evidence from the sector will be valuable to shape the direction of the travel for the new London Plan.

Please contact Oliver Jefferson if you would like us to make representations on your behalf. The deadline for comments is the 22 June 2025.

22 May 2025

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