Comment from Charles Holland, Head of Residential Development and Investment at Marsh & Parsons, on the Queen’s Speech:
“As home ownership plummets to just 63% of the population from nearly 70% a few years ago, it’s vital that the development community is encouraged to build more property in London.
“Significantly increasing the supply of new homes will enable house prices to remain steady rather than becoming more out of reach for first-time buyers.
“Reports that Sadiq Khan intends to appoint a councillor from Islington as his deputy mayor, who has a history of blocking developments lacking proportionately higher levels of affordable or social housing, is a concern for the capital and could well be counter-productive in achieving his aim of lower value homes being built.
“We welcome the idea of greater affordability for the city’s young professionals – but to insist that all developments in London must provide 50% affordable housing will have a significant negative impact on land values, which will result in landowners considering alternate uses or withholding the release of land completely.
“For land already acquired by developers / housebuilders, the new 50% affordable housing requirement will render the majority of new-build projects unviable, thereby stemming the flow of much needed supply.
“Simply, there can’t be a one-rule-fits-all approach for such a diverse city, and the mayor and his housing chief must be careful not to stymie house building in London if they hope to reach their ambitious target of delivering 50,000 new homes each year.”