Intend to Publish London Plan 2019

Yesterday, Mayor Sadiq Khan published his ‘Intend to Publish’ version of the new London Plan, together with a schedule of his responses to the Inspector’s recommendations. This follows the publication of the Panel of Inspectors’ report earlier this year.

Whilst the previous Draft London Plan included housing targets for 650,000 homes over 10 years from 2019-2029, the Mayor has now accepted one of the Inspector’s key recommendations that the overall target should be reduced and small sites housing target cut by more than half, after finding the proposed targets to be “neither justified nor deliverable”.

Notwithstanding, the Mayor has made it clear in his letter to the Secretary of State dated 9^th December 2019 that he is – despite the circa 20 per cent reduction in housing targets – “still absolutely committed to delivering more of the homes that Londoner’s need, and this will include making much greater use of small sites across the capital”. Furthermore, the revised 10 year target of 522,850 homes still “remains ambitious and represents a step-change from that set out in the current London Plan, so it is in all our interests to get the new Plan adopted as soon as possible”.

To ensure this level of housing delivery is “more than just planning policy”, the Mayor has also published a Delivery Note setting out his plans to aid the acceleration of housing delivery in London, from the policies in the London Plan and Housing Strategy, to investment decisions and direct interventions.

Overall, the Mayor has accepted 28 of the 55 the recommendations in full, a further 12 in part or with amendment, and 15 have been dismissed. A schedule outlining the Inspector’s recommendations, and the Mayor’s responses to them, can be found here.

This includes a dismissal of the Inspector’s calls for policies relating to Heathrow Airport’s expansion to be removed, unless it could be shown that no additional noise or air quality harm would result from the expansion, and the benefits of future regulatory and technology improvements can be fairly shared with affected communities.

Furthermore, the Mayor has dismissed the recommendation for a review of the capital’s Green Belt as it is considered that any commitment “potentially pre-judges any future spatial strategy and risks undermining the objectives and delivery of this plan”.

The Plan has subsequently been amended to acknowledge that it “does not meet all of London’s identified development needs. Work will need to be undertaken to explore the potential options for meeting this need sustainably in London and beyond”.

Following receipt of the Mayor’s letter confirming his intentions to publish the Plan, the Secretary of State now has six weeks to consider the proposed changes in terms of their compliance with national planning policy and adverse impacts on neighbouring regions. The Plan must also be submitted to the London Assembly before publication, which the Mayor intends to do in the new year. It is anticipated that the new London Plan will therefore be published in early 2020.

All of the relevant ‘Intend to Publish’ documentation, including a clean and tracked version of the plan, can be downloaded here.

Nona Jones, Assistant Planner