GLA Rejects Wandsworth Council’s Revised Local Plan

In October 2023, Wandsworth Council published some proposed changes to the Local Plan which it had inherited from the previous Conservative Council. The key aim of the changes was to increase the proportion of affordable housing in new developments to 50%. The key policy lever was to increase from 35% to 45% the threshold for affordable housing at which developers could adopt the ‘fast track route’ which means that proposals do not have to undergo a ‘financial viability assessment. After a period of consultation, the Council published in January this year a revised Regulation 19 document which will be considered by planning inspectors later this year. But the Greater London Authority (GLA) has thrown a big spanner in the works.

It is a legal requirement that Local Plans in each of the 32 London boroughs must be in ‘general conformity’ with the London Plan, the current one of which was approved by the Secretary of State in 2021. But the Assistant Director of Planning at the Greater London Authority (GLA) has written to Wandsworth Council requiring it to make changes to its proposals. The GLA letter argues that the Council’s own evidence duggests that the 45% threshold would make most developments non-viable, and that the result would be a reduction in the volume of housing being built, both affordable and non-affordable.

The letter also objects to proposed new restrictions on the development of new student accommodation, of build-to-rent blocks, and of large-scale blocks of single rooms with shared facilities.

Wandsworth Council has not yet responded to the GLA letter.