The Greater London Authority is drawing up plans to lower the proportion of affordable homes developers must provide when trying to fast-track planning, in a bid to spur housebuilding in the capital.
Developers that want to speed up their proposals must generally allocate 35 per cent of a scheme to affordable housing as part of an agreement with their local authority. The GLA has been discussing lowering that threshold, people familiar with the plans said, to quicken the sclerotic pace of housebuilding in the city, which was an important plank of Labour’s election manifesto.
London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has been under pressure from the governing party to increase housebuilding. Last week he met Steve Reed, who recently took over from Angela Rayner as secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, to discuss the matter, according to a tweet sent by the mayor.