Mayor of London revises affordable housing quota decision following legal challenge

Tower Hamlets, Lewisham and Hackney councils launched a legal challenge last month, which sought to fight the Mayor’s decision to pursue an emergency reduction in affordable housing quotas for new projects from 35% to 20%.

Lambeth, Southwark, Waltham Forest and Haringey councils are also formally supporting the litigation.

The Mayor of London has since published the draft London Plan, which introduces measures for affordable housing quotas to return to 35% from 2028 onwards for Tower Hamlets, Hackney and some other boroughs.

City Hall said the 35% quota would apply to “as many boroughs as possible (over a third) and then use varying thresholds for the other boroughs to ensure we maximise the number of affordable homes being built during this difficult period”.

Both the mayor of Hackney and the executive mayor of Tower Hamlets have hailed the decision as a “concession” in response to their legal challenge.

Local Government Lawyer understands that the judicial review application is currently at the permission stage and is awaiting a decision on whether permission will be granted for the case to proceed.

Tower Hamlets’ executive mayor, Lutfur Rahman, said the Mayor’s decision “demonstrates the impact of our legal challenge to stop the Mayor of London slashing the affordable housing quota from 35% to just 20%”.

He claimed that City Hall had accepted the "fundamental premise" of the councils' judicial review by recognising "the benefits of allowing councils to set ambitious affordable housing targets that reflect local circumstances" and the levels of affordable housing already being delivered in boroughs such as Tower Hamlets.

However, Rahman said the revised proposals were still insufficient because they would allow the emergency measures to remain in place until 2028.

"That would mean losing thousands of affordable homes over the next two years – homes which, once lost, we will never get back," he said.

Hackney mayor Zoë Garbett echoed this, noting that the decision “still leaves a two year period where the Mayor of London will give the green light for developers in Hackney to cut back on affordable homes – while in other boroughs they are let off the hook indefinitely.”

She added: “We’re pleased the Mayor has listened, but will keep the pressure on and continue the fight for affordable housing in London.”

Adam Carey