Candidates must provide ‘credible plan’ to deliver homes in London
New Mayor will need to work with housebuilders and develop realistic, workable plans if campaign promises are to be delivered
House builders have challenged candidates standing in the Mayoral elections to adopt ‘tangible, workable and realistic’ policies to deliver the increases in housing supply needed to maintain London’s position as “the world’s capital city”.
Whilst welcoming the broad and vocal commitments from the candidates to build more homes, the industry now wants to see politicians adopt proposals, published today, in a ‘Blueprint for building the homes London needs’.
The Home Builders Federation’s (HBF) 10-point ‘blueprint’, Capitalising on Growth, encourages the next Mayor to develop a ‘credible plan’ that builds on the significant increases in housing supply in London over the last two years to further close the gap between supply and demand.
HBF’s Blueprint includes recommendations that the next Mayor of London:
Ensures sites are viable and deliverable by requiring realistic levels of affordable housing and wider regulatory ‘asks’Supports the delivery of specialist private rented housing and makes better use of, and improves, London’s existing estatesWorks with authorities in the wider South East such that a strategic approach to delivering homes that can support London’s growthActs as a hub to coordinate efforts by all the public bodies with land holdings in London such that more land actually comes forwardBacks powers to turn more underused commercial spaces into homes for LondonersTakes a proportionate to investor buyers to ensure that the up-front finance comes forward to support the delivery of developments
Commenting on the launch of the Blueprint, HBF Executive Chairman, Stewart Baseley said: “We welcome the very vocal commitments of candidates to increase housing supply in London. We now need to see realistic, workable policies to be developed that will allow these homes to be built. If London is to maintain its status as the world’s capital city and keep on powering the national economy, it must continue to attract people, businesses and investment. The capital’s chronic housing shortage and resultant affordability crisis now threatens London’s status as a global powerhouse and can only be solved by a sustained increase in supply.
“In just two years, housing supply has increased by over 25% but we are still only delivering around half the number of homes needed. We need to maintain a strong investment environment for developers, keep sites deliverable and ensure that planning resources are in place so that builders can obtain planning permission and get on site as quickly as possible.”
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For media enquiries, or to arrange an interview, please contact Steve Turner on 020 7960 1606 or 07919 307760. Steve.turner@hbf.co.uk
Notes to editors
The Home Builders Federation (HBF) is the representative body of the home building industry in England and Wales. The HBF’s member firms account for some 80% of all new homes built in England and Wales in any one year, and include companies of all sizes, ranging from multi-national, household names through regionally based businesses to small local companies: www.hbf.co.ukCapitalising on Growth: A Blueprint for Building the Homes London Needs is available on HBF’s website hereHousing supply in London has increased by 26% in just two years with 28,840 new homes provided in London during 2014/15The rolling annual total of planning permissions in London is currently 47,000 homes per year but action is still needed to speed up the transition from outline planning permission to delivery of homes for Londoners
