Political opponents of the Mayor of London in City Hall have thrown their weight behind a legal challenge against his decision to slash the affordable housing quota for new developments from 35 per cent to 20 per cent. The Green-led councils of Hackney and Lewisham have united with the Aspire Party-controlled Tower Hamlets to launch a judicial review opposing the affordable housing reforms. The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands that a High Court challenge to the decision is also being formally backed by Green-led councils in Lambeth, Southwark, Waltham Forest and Haringey.
Background of the Quota Cut
City Hall and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) last year struck a deal to implement a package of “emergency measures” – including the quota cut – in order to stimulate stagnating housebuilding in the capital. Almost a year on, the coalition of councils has launched the legal action. A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said they would not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.
Political Reactions
Green Party Leader and Assembly Member Zack Polanski said City Hall’s record on affordable homes will be on the ballot paper at the 2028 London Mayoral elections. Sir Sadiq has consistently missed targets set by the government on the issue, but has blamed high interest rates, construction costs and delays caused by the Building Safety Regulator for the slow progress. “We caused a political earthquake in the local elections last month and now every single one of the Green councils elected in London is backing this legal challenge to fight for affordable homes, alongside Tower Hamlets Council,” Mr Polanski said today. “This legal action lays bare the difference between electing Green and Labour Mayors. Green Mayors fight for a housing and planning system that works for people, not profit, while Labour Mayors cut affordable homes and line the pockets of private developers. London is the epicentre of a nationwide housing crisis. With thousands of families languishing on waiting lists and one in 21 children homeless and growing up in overcrowded temporary accommodation, we cannot afford for thousands more to be priced out of their communities and plunged into poverty and homelessness. This is a scandal, and it will be one of the key issues on the ballot in the London Mayoral elections in just two years’ time. Londoners won’t forget that it was Sadiq Khan and the Labour Government that slashed the number of affordable homes, and Green Mayors and councils who fought them and, hopefully, have succeeded in overturning it in the courts.” He claimed that the new Prime Minister – be it Andy Burnham or otherwise – must retract the deal with City Hall.
Benali Hamdache, his party colleague on the Assembly, added: “London needs more council homes, not luxury flats – Green and Aspire Mayors are rightfully taking the Mayor of London to court to fight for genuinely affordable housing. Labour have sold out to the developers.”
Assembly Members and Council Leaders Speak Out
Others on the London Assembly called on the Mayor to stop “lowering the bar” and instead stand up to developers lobbying for lower affordable housing quotas. Hina Bokhari, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, told the LDRS: “London desperately needs more homes, but not just any homes. It’s genuinely affordable homes, family homes and accessible homes that Londoners are crying out for. Whatever the Court may rule, the Mayor should be standing up to developers, not letting them off the hook. If after a decade in City Hall Sadiq Khan’s only answer to missing his housing targets is to lower the bar, Londoners will rightly ask whether he is really a Mayor who is capable of addressing this crisis.”
Cllr Victor Chamberlain, Southwark Council’s Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Planning, said: “Cutting London’s affordable housing requirement would lock in a lower standard as the new norm and weaken our hand in negotiating every scheme with developers. Ultimately it would mean fewer much-needed affordable homes for Londoners, not more. For too long, Labour has been in power at every level of London government and has failed to get a grip on the housing crisis.”
Mayor of Lewisham Liam Shrivastava added: “London is in an unprecedented housing crisis, and private developers have a duty to play a role in supporting our city. It would be totally wrong to allow their profit to go unchecked while thousands of people are on councils’ housing waiting lists. While we understand the challenge the Mayor of London faces in terms of a stalled house building market and a developer-led model that is broken, he has provided no justification for these changes, which will undoubtedly reduce the number of affordable homes built in London.”
Official Responses
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “We can confirm that a claim for Judicial Review has been issued against the GLA. As legal proceedings are ongoing, we are unable to comment further at this stage.” MHCLG sources said the department would not comment on live legal proceedings.
Mayor of Hackney Zoe Garbett, who was on the London Assembly before her election win last month, told the LDRS: “As Mayor of Hackney, my goal is simple: a Hackney our communities can afford to stay in. But with 40 per cent of residents living in deprivation – and local families facing some of the longest waiting times for social housing – we urgently need more affordable social homes. To do that, we must ensure developers build genuinely affordable housing, and take action against those that don’t. Instead we have a Mayor of London doing the opposite – slashing targets, undermining the progress Hackney residents desperately need, and letting developers off the hook. The Mayor of London is no longer surrounded by councils willing to sign off any developer-driven decision he wants to make. Hackney now has a Mayor who will go to bat for affordable housing.”
