Three London councils have launched a legal challenge over proposed cuts to affordable housing quotas in the capital
Three London councils have launched a legal challenge over proposed cuts to affordable housing quotas in the capital. Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Lewisham councils are set to bring the challenge at the High Court against the Greater London Authority (GLA) over plans to reduce the amount of affordable housing private developers include in projects.
Currently, new developments must allocate 35% of the development to affordable housing to use a fast-tracked planning process. But under plans announced in October, this quota is set to be reduced to 20%.
The prospective legal challenge is being supported by Lambeth, Southwark, Waltham Forest and Haringey councils, as well as Green Party leader Zack Polanski.
The councils claim that mayor Sir Sadiq Khan and City Hall have not used the proper process for amending the quota in the London Plan, a development strategy written by the mayor.
Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Lewisham councils – each led by a directly elected mayor – also claim there was a lack of consultation before the decision was made.
A Mayor of London spokesperson said: “We can confirm that a claim for judicial review has been issued against the GLA.
“As legal proceedings are ongoing, we are unable to comment further at this stage.”
Zoe Garbett, the Green Party executive mayor of Hackney who was elected in May, said that housing was the mayors’ “number one issue”.
She told the Press Association: “These measures that are being brought in are a developer’s solution and they will stifle what we are able to do as London directly elected mayors and leaders in our boroughs.”
Ms Garbett added: “It’s about saying no, we should be expecting more from our developments.”
Liam Shrivastava, the mayor of Lewisham who is also from the Green Party, said communities “are crying out for genuinely affordable housing”.
He added that there are more than 10,000 people on the housing waiting list in the borough.
Mr Shrivastava told PA: “We have to have genuinely affordable council led housing solutions for our residents. “
That’s what they deserve and that is what we are fighting for and that’s why we’re bringing this challenge.”
The mayor, who was also elected in May, said that he did not believe there was evidence that the proposals would stimulate housebuilding, later describing the measures as “tinkering around the edges” and “window dressing”.
And Lutfur Rahman, mayor of Tower Hamlets from the Aspire party, told PA: “There should be more homes to help the ordinary folks in london, not for the super-rich, not for assets just sitting there, unoccupied that can’t be sold or rented out.”
Mr Rahman also said he did not believe there had been a proper consultation between City Hall and the boroughs.
He added: “We want to have that dialogue, we want to have that discussion, we know our boroughs more than someone from outside. We know what the needs are.
Mr Polanski described housing issues in London as a “scandal” which will be a key issue in the next London mayoral election.
He said: “With thousands of families languishing on waiting lists and one in 21 children homeless and growing up in overcrowded temporary accommodation, we cannot afford for thousands more to be priced out of their communities and plunged into poverty and homelessness.”
The legal challenge has been filed at the High Court in London, the councils said.
Judges will now decide whether the case is “arguable” and can go to a full hearing.
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