London Housing Crisis
(Bloomberg) — Mayor of London Sadiq Khan will “actively explore” building on the London Housing Crisis city green belt in what would amount to the biggest change to housing policy in the UK capital since the 1960s.
The mayor will announce a consultation on releasing parts of London Housing Crisis green belt in a speech Friday, saying that some building in the protected zone around the city is necessary to meet the capital’s targets and to end a housing crisis.
Khan will say the current approach to only build on previously developed so called brownfield land “will not be enough to meet our needs”, a notable reversal of his previous opposition to green belt development. London needs to build 88,000 new homes a year over the next decade to meet demand, according to nationally-set targets by central government, a rate of housebuilding the UK capital has never previously achieved.
Green belts in the UK were created to prevent urban sprawl around cities and towns but have more recently been blamed with strangling growth and pushing up home prices in the areas with the highest rates of job creation. Khan’s proposal is likely to provoke a fierce backlash from environmentalists and campaigners, despite promises to boost biodiversity and increase public access to “genuinely” green spaces alongside the new development which should be focused near transport links.
“The perception many people have is that the green belt is all beautiful countryside, green and pleasant land, rich with wildlife. The reality is very different,” Khan will say. “The green belt can often be low-quality land, poorly maintained and rarely enjoyed by Londoners. Only around 13% is made up of parks and areas that the public can access.”
The mayor’s plans come amid a push nationally from the Labor government, Khan’s own party, to move forward on housebuilding and infrastructure projects to spur economic growth, even in the face of local opposition. Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, said Khan “has our backing to deliver the housing this city needs, in line with our ambition nationally to unlock the dream of a secure home for a generation.”
The consultation on the London Housing Crisis Plan, which sets out the mayor’s vision for how the capital will develop over the next 20 to 25 years, will be open until 22 June. Following this public consultation, the draft London Plan will be published in 2026 for another examination process, with formal adoption expected in 2028.
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