London mayor opens up new homes planning guidance for consultation

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has released updated planning guidance that aims to maximise the construction of quality homes in the city.

Johnson regards this as a vital step in achieving the goal of building 49,000 houses a year in order to keep up with London’s booming population but he wants quality to be as important as quantity.

Interested parties are being invited to comment on the new guidance, which includes detail on building specifically for long term private rentals, the potential introduction of affordable housing targets in new areas, and more details on vacant building credits for developers.

London’s Deputy Mayor for Planning, Sir Edward Lister, said that the new Supplementary Planning Guidance will be vital in helping developers and boroughs understand how to achieve the Mayor’s ambitious aims for housing in London.

‘Delivering the homes that London needs requires us to work together, so I would encourage anyone with an interest to let us know what they think,’ he added.

The latest revision of the Mayor’s Supplementary Planning Guidance for Housing builds on the Mayor’s Plan to provide extra detail where needed, and is open for consultation until 07 August.

It recognises that in the drive to increase housing capacity in London, quality is just as important as quantity and seeks to make sure that people have decent homes and enough space to live.

The plan includes detail on the Mayor’s policy to encourage an increase in developments designed specifically for long term private rentals, so-called build-to-rent. He says that done correctly, this could help meet specific population needs in certain urban centres.

There is also more detail on the concept of applying fixed affordable housing targets in Housing Zones and Opportunity Areas, which will be the source of significant growth in housing supply in coming years.

Advice for local boroughs is included on how to incorporate the Vacant Building Credit into their local planning policy to ensure the credit delivers the aim of the Government policy, which is to bring forward brownfield sites that otherwise wouldn’t come forward for development. The credit allows the existing gross floor space to be credited towards affordable housing contributions.

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Source: Property News Spain