UK Government, London Mayor Launch Emergency Package to Boost London Housebuilding Amid Housing Crisis

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and the UK government have jointly introduced an emergency package to revive London's struggling housebuilding market, which has seen a significant decline. Key measures include a temporary reduction in affordable housing requirements on private sites from 35% to 20%, relief from the Community Infrastructure Levy, and adjustments to design and planning regulations to boost development density and streamline approvals. Industry leaders welcome the move as a positive step to unlock stalled projects and restore market confidence, though concerns remain about the long-term impact on affordable housing delivery and ongoing regulatory delays, such as those from the Building Safety Regulator. The package also features a £322 million City Hall Developer Investment Fund aimed at addressing construction costs and financing challenges. Experts emphasize the need for this to be a short-term pilot to rapidly increase housing starts, while advocating for broader systemic reforms to ensure resilience against economic shocks and improve social housing funding and rental market regulation. Overall, the initiative is seen as necessary to address the capital's housing crisis and support the government's target of 1.5 million new homes nationally.