Developers react to London housebuilding support as late-stage reviews axed

The government also confirmed the creation of a new planning route enabling developers to secure permission without a viability assessment on private land where they commit to at least 20% social and affordable housing.

Providers will be able to apply for Greater London Authority grant to support social and affordable homes above the first 10% of the total homes on the site. The route will now be open to applications submitted and validated by 31 March 2028.

Finally, elements of London Plan guidance that constrain density, such as dual aspect and cycle storage requirements, will be relaxed.

Marcus Bate, partnerships, planning, communities and sustainability director at Mount Anvil, told Inside Housing Living: “This is exactly what we’ve been asking for, so we can afford to build more homes faster. Hats off to Steve Reed and Sadiq Khan.”

Extending the CIL relief to schemes starting by the end of March 2030 gives the sector a “much more realistic chance of being able to capitalise on these measures to deliver the housing they intend to support”, he said.

Mr Bate noted that almost half of the developers and most local authorities who responded to the government’s consultation said they did not believe these emergency measures will have the desired effect of improving viability to support housebuilding.

“We’ve run the numbers on our schemes and see things differently; we believe they will have a significant impact on improving viability,” he continued.

“We are likely to start some schemes earlier than we would have otherwise. It should also mean that developers can keep to the affordable housing numbers approved at planning, especially with the easing of requirements around things like cycle parking, which add time and cost, often without ultimately being utilised by residents.”

Adam Cradick, a director at CBRE, said it is “good news” that some of the consultation timelines have been extended, including the removal of late-stage reviews. 

Measures such as CIL relief and more flexible design standards are “also helpful”, he said.

“However, the 31 March 2028 deadline for registering planning applications will come around quickly, and a more open-ended provision would have delivered greater impact.”

Mr Cradick continued: “These measures feel too temporary to truly move the needle, especially when viability challenges require both demand and supply-side impetus.

“Indeed, any measures whether fiscal or otherwise to help the demand side still appear to be lacking from the government’s housing stimulus.”

Nick Cuff, managing director of development consultancy Urban Sketch, said: “It’s positive that the government has listened and simplified the emergency package of measures for London. The extinguishment of the mayoral flagship policy of late-stage reviews is welcomed and the elongation of timelines to submit is also a positive.

“However, no one including the UK state should be in any doubt that the brownfield emergency will continue because these measures do not go far enough, fast enough. There are thousands of homes in stuck consents and the government should reintroduce Section 106BA to protect supply and sector supply chains after the local elections have concluded.

“These measures are only temporary because a more radical set of simplifying measures must come after them. No one can be under any doubt that the old cross-subsidy model is dead and buried and what has happened is structural change, not cyclical.”

Dr David Crosthwaite, chief economist at the Building Cost Information Service, said: “Fast-tracking planning for eligible sites is an important step. The government is behind on its housebuilding targets and planning delays remain one of the biggest barriers to delivery. It’s encouraging to see action on a lever it can directly control.

“However, major constraints remain beyond its reach. Weak buyer demand, particularly in London, is a critical issue. With the for-sale market subdued, there is little incentive to accelerate building.”

The new emergency measures are “unlikely to shift demand in the short term”, he added.

“That will depend on wider economic recovery and improvements in the cost of living, both of which now face renewed uncertainty amid rising energy price risks linked to tensions in the Middle East.”