Gove orders Khan to review London Plan for housing

Mr Gove said today that Londoners are “being let down by the mayor’s chronic under-delivery of new homes in the capital”.

He pointed to measures outlined previously by the government, such as unlocking brownfield development, but said they were not enough, which is why he was intervening.  

The housing secretary has said that Mr Khan must review two areas of his London Plan. One is industrial land, where there are 736 hectares of space that could be used for housing but are “stuck in the planning system” because of a lack of flexibility in the mayor’s policy, according to Mr Gove. 

In addition, Mr Gove said that “too many” of the 47 “opportunity areas” identified by Mr Khan had made “almost no progress and others appear to have plateaued”.

The move also comes after Inside Housing reported last month that Homes England could get handed more powers in London. 

Sakina Sheikh, Labour’s London Assembly planning and regeneration spokesperson, branded Mr Gove’s actions as “another inappropriate intervention” and said he is “playing political football with the London Plan”. 

She added: “Whilst the planning system has its flaws, especially delays, this has been compounded by over a decade of cuts to local authority planning departments and uncertainty caused by government interference.

“The government’s last review of the London Plan, published only a few months ago, found no fundamental issues. This latest review seems to be another desperate attempt from the government to do down our capital.”

Mr Khan’s office has been contacted for comment. 

Mr Gove’s intervention has come on the same day that Mr Khan pledged to build 40,000 new council homes in London by 2030 as he launched his bid to be re-elected the capital’s mayor in May. 

Last week the mayor announced a new £100m ‘housing kick-start fund’ to convert market rate homes into affordable housing on development sites that have stalled due to economic conditions.