London has been at the eye of the property storm for the last decade, with pressures rising exponentially in the last 2 years, causing construction to come to a grinding halt. The why, for all of us in residential property, has been obvious for a while. Name another city that could have continued as long as London has with such unviable economics, costly delays wrapped in red-tape and legislation stand-offs to contend with daily. While these issues have been faced by housebuilders up and down the country, for London, there has been no respite.
Only now, with London housebuilding in a state of emergency, have the UK Government pledged their support. In late October, the Government announced emergency measures that include a “time-limited planning route to get more spades in the ground, temporary levy relief for developers, new powers for the Mayor to review and call-in housing schemes and £322m of initial funding for a City Hall Developer Investment Fund.”
Interestingly, this all comes before the announcement of the Autumn Budget, which, due at the end of November, is psychologically strangling the market.
While the pledge is a great first step, actionable help needs to be paired with equal economic measures. And this needs to be seen in the upcoming budget.
Budget aside, more noticeable is the questioning regarding the increasing power given to the London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, when it comes to UK housing. With critics concerned that these latest powers could lead to widespread overruling of London boroughs’ development decisions, as well as Khan’s supposed predilection to prefer building extortionate flats, which would ultimately dilute affordable housing plans.
Supporters, however, believe Khan will be able to use his new power to push through the blockades, centralising strategy and overruling boroughs on what many believe to be arbitrary decisions.
The drive from Labour and the London Mayor for affordable housing is a necessary one, but when did we get so scared to talk about profit?
Viewing housebuilders as anything other than businesses is a mistake. That statement is not oppositional to the fundamental belief that everyone deserves housing, and affordable housing at that. However, the provocation is perhaps a reminder that when we take services for granted (NHS anyone) we should not later be shocked by their collapse. Similarly, while fingers can be pointed and re-pointed to the party line of government, there can be no mistaking that for over a decade, housing has been used as PR cannon fodder.
From Gove’s ‘building better, building beautiful’ to Reed’s ‘build baby build,’ it could be said that instead of making real change there has instead been greater focus on what tabloid slogan will work best.
Housebuilders in London and elsewhere in the UK don’t have the luxury of worrying about slogans that encapsulate government sentiment to win voters. The collapse of London’s property eco-system after all has partly been borne out of the havoc caused by the revolving door of the UK’s Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. With such uncertainty at the seat of power, London, as the UK’s capital, was bound to suffer from the aftershocks.
The perception that London will always be successful is dangerous. This year has shown that, with sites abandoned and cranes retired before developments are completed. The irony is, developers have cash to spend. But inconsistent, historic legislation blocks them. Windows, for example, with their straightforward 45-degree rule enforced to protect a neighbour’s privacy and light, become a monumental challenge to development in London – where space is limited and the population is in the millions.
The building regulations around windows are but one example of how London, as an eco-centre, needs to be treated differently from the rest of the UK.
And while the latest emergency measures will see rules relaxed, they have been touted as temporary measures at best.
There can be no denying that London development is in trouble. To deny this sentiment would be to deny ineffective legislation, rising material and delay costs, plus inequitable support provided by the Government over the course of the last decade. London’s developers are at the mercy of the changing hands of power at 10 Downing Street, and this has fundamentally got to stop. After all, it isn’t just London that is struggling; it’s the entire country.
The current restlessness of the UK market will either be settled or provoked by the upcoming Budget. Hopefully, the emergency pledge to ‘ramp up housebuilding in London’ indicates positive news for housebuilders in general and for London, as the Government continues to work towards alleviating pressure and relaxing rules to ensure the industry can not only rebuild but accelerate. London will always be standing, but no one wants to see it on its knees.
