Advocacy group also calls for large housing-led schemes to be treated as nationally-significant infrastructure
An advocacy group for businesses in London has urged the government to introduce measures to stimulate housebuilding in the capital.
BusinessLDN’s Growth Commission, which is chaired by the chief executive of private landlord Grainger, urged the government to adopt a targeted, short-term support to bolster demand, including a new Help-to-Buy scheme and temporary stamp duty reductions for first-time buyers.
The commission, which was set up after the November Budget, also suggested the government pause and review the introduction of the Building Safety Levy and extend the emergency measures for London that were introduced last year.
Last October, the government and the mayor of London announced that developers would be able to secure planning permission without a viability assessment on private land where they commit to 20% affordable housing, down from 35% under previous policy.
The new planning route is intended to be time-limited to two years.
Grainger boss Helen Gordon said: “Unlocking the full economic potential of London as an economic engine for the UK is essential to deliver the growth needed to make people across the capital and beyond feel better off.
“While the capital has inherent strengths from the rule of law to a highly-skilled workforce, success can’t be taken for granted amid intense global competition.
“Implementing these practical solutions would help break the shackles that are holding the city back and get the economy out of the slow lane.”
In the medium-term, BusinessLDN recommended a number of changes, including the introduction of automatic reimbursement of planning applicants’ reasonable costs following successful appeals.
It also recommended introducing a new class of permitted development rights for temporary accommodation, adapting legislation to enable housing-led projects of a large size to be treated as nationally-significant infrastructure projects.
No comments yet