Policy 3.3 Increasing housing supply

Strategic

A The Mayor recognises the pressing need for more homes in London in order to promote opportunity and provide a real choice for all Londoners in ways that meet their needs at a price they can afford.

B Working with relevant partners, the Mayor will seek to ensure the housing need identified in paragraphs 3.16a and 3.16b is met particularly through provision consistent with at least an annual average of 42,000 net additional homes across London^[1] which will enhance the environment, improve housing choice and affordability and provide better quality accommodation for Londoners.

C This target will be reviewed by 2019/20 and periodically thereafter and provide the basis for monitoring until then.

LDF preparation

D Boroughs should seek to achieve and exceed the relevant minimum borough annual average housing target in Table 3.1, if a target beyond 2025 is required, boroughs should roll forward and seek to exceed that in Table 3.1 until it is replaced by a revised London Plan target.

Da Boroughs should draw on the housing benchmarks in table 3.1 in developing their LDF housing targets, augmented where possible with extra housing capacity to close the gap between identified housing need (see Policy 3.8) and supply in line with the requirement of the NPPF

E Boroughs should identify and seek to enable additional development capacity to be brought forward to supplement these targets having regard to the other policies of this Plan and in particular the potential to realise brownfield housing capacity through the spatial structure it provides including:

a intensification (see policies 2.13 and 3.4)

b town centre renewal, especially centres with good public transport accessibility (see Policy 2.15)

c opportunity and intensification areas and growth corridors (see policies 2.13 and 2.3)

d mixed use redevelopment, especially of surplus commercial capacity and surplus public land, and particularly that with good transport accessibility (see policies 2.7, 2.11, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4)

e sensitive renewal of existing residential areas, especially in areas of good public transport accessibility (see policies 3.4, 3.5, 3.14).

F Boroughs must identify new, and review existing housing sites for inclusion in LDFs.

G Boroughs should monitor housing capacity and provision against the average targets in Table 3.1, local housing needs assessments and the sensitivity ranges set out in the SHLAA report and updated in the London Plan Annual Monitoring Report.

^[1] Net additional homes including additional dwellings provided by development and redevelopment, conversion of residential and non-residential property, long term vacant properties brought back into use and household spaces in non-self-contained accommodation.

3.24 Table 3.1 only covers the period 2015 – 2025. LDFs which come forward following publication of this Plan and before its replacement or alteration will not be covered for their full term by the current targets. The Mayor therefore commits to revising the targets by 2019/20. In order to provide guidance for any intervening period, LDFs should roll forward the annual targets in Table 3.1 expressing the rolling target as an indicative figure to be checked and adjusted against any revised housing targets.

3.25 Monitoring the housing supply figures is an essential part of the ‘plan, monitor and manage’ approach taken to ensure that the London Plan delivers as many additional homes each year as is practicable. Annex 4 sets out the components of the targets which the Mayor will use for monitoring supply.

3.26 The SHLAA methodology provides for phasing of development of individual sites in the future. However, an annual monitoring target based on the average capacity estimated to come forward over ten years may not fully reflect unique uncertainties in housing output arising from changes in the economy. Boroughs may wish to highlight the implications of these uncertainties for achievement of their targets in their Annual Monitoring Reports (AMR), drawing on the strategic context provided by the SHLAA report, the London Plan AMR and the Housing SPG.