Opportunity Areas and Housing Zones

• Community groups have argued that development in Opportunity Areas does not meet the needs of local residents and businesses and ultimately displaces these communities. Some feel that they have been excluded from the process of designating Opportunity Areas and the development that takes place within them.
• A recent study by the Centre for Labour and Social Studies found that gentrification rates were 9-13 per cent higher in areas located within Opportunity Areas than in areas outside of them. Population churn was significantly higher across all three case-study boroughs within Opportunity Areas.
• The Greater London Authority (GLA) has not carried out a full evaluation of each Opportunity Area, to assess how they are performing, how the current approach could be improved and possible alternatives.
• The Housing Zones programme is set to deliver 15,500 homes – 6,300 of these will be affordable (41 per cent), and 2,500 have been delivered so far. The programme will not be extended beyond 2022-23.

The London Assembly Planning and Regeneration Committee has published a letter following its investigation into Opportunity Areas and Housing Zones in London. The letter makes a number of recommendations to the Mayor of London for improvement, including:

• Work with boroughs to ensure that residents, businesses and community groups are engaged and involved in the planning process within Opportunity Areas from the outset and prior to their designation.
• Monitor and publish comprehensive data giving a breakdown of housing tenure and size in each Opportunity Area along with other outcomes. This should include data on demolitions, new homes, and community services.
• Explore options for carrying out a full evaluation of Opportunity Areas, which assesses outcomes against objectives, comparisons with equivalent sites in London, impacts on local residents and businesses and value for money.
• Publish findings of internal reviews into Housing Zones and as the programme is coming to an end, commission an independent evaluation of the programme, in order to learn from its successes and failures to help inform future projects.