Delays to measures to boost housebuilding in London

The housebuilding market in London has had a very tough time recently. In fact, the Home Builders Federation said figures show there has been a dip in starts and planning approvals. It leaves housing supply in a very precarious position at a time when thousands of households are struggling. With this in mind, there were plans to introduce emergency policy measures to give the industry a boost. Sadly, last week we got the news they would be delayed until the end of October at the earliest.

Emergency measures

The expectation is we would have details of the emergency measures in mid October. Experts were anticipating some crucial temporary changes to support the housebuilding market and get more projects up and running.

The main thing people were expecting was a reduction in affordable housing targets. Currently the demand is for 35% of homes on private sites in London to be affordable (although some local councils have higher targets). If the site is public, the benchmark is 50%.

While delivering affordable housing is a vital target, the current demands get a lot of criticism. It can cause big problems with the viability of projects, especially with cost challenges and additional requirements like second stairs. A general subdued feeling in the market makes it harder too. As a result, the expectation is the target could temporarily lower to 20%.

Delays

Sadly, we got to the middle of October and there was no announcement of the measures. It wasn't good news for confidence in the housing and construction industries. As a top provider of residential architecture, it had an impact on us too.

While no reason was given, the belief is discussions about the measures are still underway. Crucially, we need agreement between the Ministry for Housing Community and Local Government (MHCLG) and the Greater London Authority (GLA). They will need to finalise the policies, details, and procedures.

So, when could we get a statement from ministers? The next major announcements from the Government are the next Budget in November and a report from the Office for Budget Responsibility. The expectation is MHCLG will want to get info about the temporary measures out before then.

On a brighter note, a spokesperson for the GLA said the Mayor of London is still working "hand-in-hand with the Government". They want to work together to achieve the goal to support the construction industry and deliver more housing.