Khan’s manifesto priorities – what do they mean for planning?

Sadiq Khan’s manifesto priorities were centred on tackling the housing crisis and he pledged to deliver 80,000 homes in the capital each year, to make sure housing is more affordable. His key promise was that 50 per cent of all new homes in London will be "genuinely affordable". He also promised to offer new homes to Londoners first, rather than overseas investors.

Now that he’s in post, the new Mayor of London is set to form a "new homes" division in City Hall, bringing together key stakeholders to build affordable houses and support councils. The new GLA team intends to boost the delivery of new homes in the capital and is to be charged with offering expert advice on viability to London boroughs. The Mayor is also expected to set up a London-wide not-for-profit letting agency. With this in place, he aims to make renting more affordable, where rents are based on one-third of average local wages.

Other manifesto priorities involve tackling air pollution in the capital, with plans to make travel greener, pedestrianise Oxford Street and back the Garden Bridge proposals.

On transport, Khan is aiming for long term planning for new homes, tied in with new transport infrastructure. He has promised to secure funding for Crossrail 2, and plan for a potential Crossrail 3, as well as the proposed Bakerloo Line extension into South East London. He also promised to freeze transport fares for four years.

He aims to produce a new London Plan, but this is unlikely to be adopted until 2018. Several ways he could potentially amend the London Plan include the following:

· Plans to make "half of all new homes genuinely affordable".

· Support “tenure-blind development”

· Protect greenbelt, green spaces and play spaces

· Ensure it gives Londoners "first dibs" on new homes

· Make travel greener, encouraging cycling and cycle storage in new developments

· Greater protection to residents affected by large-scale basement works and ensuring buildings respect the character of existing neighbourhoods.

Just four weeks after the election, Khan has already been accused of breaking his flagship election promise to freeze Londoners’ transport fares after it emerged that the freeze will not apply to all commuters. There’s also talk of his target for half of new homes to be “genuinely affordable” being watered down, having been “nothing more than a dream”. It’s not unusual for politicians to reassess their priorities following an election victory, the test will be how many of his pre-election promises he can actually deliver.