Housing secretary Michael Gove has written to the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan threatening to take housing policy out of his hands, because “housing delivery in London is far below the levels needed “.
The move comes as the latest update of the government’s National Planning Policy Framework was published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities today.
In a speech in central London, Gove also singled out several other authorities around the country who have failed to provide plans for new homes in their areas.
In Gove’s letter to Khan, he writes: “We agree that housing delivery in London is far below the levels needed. Not only is delivery considerably short of your own London Plan target by approximately 15,000 homes per year, it was approximately 63,500 homes lower than actual need last year, as calculated by the standard method.”
The minister points out that this has had a “significant effect” on those who want to live and work in the capital.
The letter, dated yesterday but released today, adds that average house prices in London remain the most expensive in the UK at £537,000 [as measured in September], which was over 12.5 times average earnings last year.
Gove writes: “London has the lowest level of home ownership in England. Our capital also has, as you know, the highest proportion of renters. There are 60,040 homeless households in temporary accommodation, including over 80,000 children.”
Gove says he has asked a panel of four experts led by Christopher Katkowski KC “to consider the aspects of your London Plan which could be preventing thousands of homes being brought forward, with a particular focus on brownfield sites in the heart of our capital”.
The minister says the panel will report back in January, and the report will also be sent to Khan.
But Gove adds: “If you cannot do what is needed to deliver the homes that London needs, I will.”
However, a spokesperson for the Mayor of London says: “London as a whole has outbuilt the rest of the country since Sadiq took office in 2016 and housing completions in London in recent years are at the highest level since the 1930s, with the highest council homebuilding since the 1970s.
“If the rest of the country had built housing at the same rate as London since 2016, there would be more than 300,000 additional homes nationwide.
The Mayor’s spokesperson adds: “This is despite the fact that decades of austerity, high inflation and a lack of national leadership has culminated in a major decline in housebuilding across the country.
“Housing experts are already warning that national housebuilding could fall to the lowest level since the Second World War due to insufficient government investment.
“Sadiq has repeatedly called on ministers to safeguard the supply of new homes in the capital by immediately injecting £2.2bn in emergency funding and £4.9bn a year in affordable housing investment, and give housebuilders urgent clarity on new fire safety rules around second staircases on taller buildings.”
The move comes as Gove’s department publishes its responses to the latest consultation on its five-year National Planning Policy Framework as it bids to build 300,000 homes a year in England by the mid-2020s — a figure that has not yet been met.
The department says: “The National Planning Policy Framework is a critical tool for the delivery of homes in the right places, the provision of land for development, and for the promotion of the high-quality design in our built environment.”
In a speech today, Gove adds that St Albans, Amber Valley, Ashfield, Medway, Uttlesford, Basildon and Castlepoint — have all failed to submit a local plan for housing since 2004.
He has given them three months to come up with a timetable for a plan, adding that the government would consider further intervention if they failed to do so.
The minister also warned two other councils — Chorley and Fareham — that developers could bypass them and apply direct to the government’s planning inspectorate for permission to build if they did not improve their planning set up.
However, the department confirmed that the green belt would be protected from housing development, following comments from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in May.
The latest framework consultation says: “We proposed to make clear that green belt boundaries are not required to be reviewed and altered, if this would be the only means of meeting the objectively assessed need for housing over the plan period.”
Propertymark head of policy and campaigns Timothy Douglas adds: “A renewed focus on councils having local plans and more pressure to deliver much needed new homes for people to rent and buy will be welcomed by Propertymark members up and down the country.
“However, often local plans don’t deliver for existing residents and fail to deliver improved transport links, schools and medical centres as well as focus enough on building housing for an ageing population and homes that are net zero.
“An infrastructure first approach is needed, alongside providing more resources to local authorities, to deliver the UK government’s reforms and build homes that the country desperately needs and communities where people want to live and work.
In October, Labour leader Keir Starmer pledged to build 1.5 million homes over five years if the party was returned to government, which includes green belt construction.
