The Mayor of London and I are jointly announcing a decisive and significant package of targeted and temporary emergency support to drive up housebuilding in London and tackle the housing emergency we have inherited.

The Mayor's record on housing in London includes starting more new council homes than at any time since the 1970s and, prior to the pandemic, completing more new homes in London than at any time since the 1930s.

But housebuilding in London has faced significant challenges over recent years due to a combination of the legacy of the previous government, impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, high interest rates, spiralling construction costs, regulatory blockers and wider economic conditions. This has created a perfect storm, resulting in more than a third of boroughs recording zero housebuilding starts in the first quarter of this year.

The Government’s and the Greater London Authority’s shared priority is making sure actual homes get built for Londoners to live in – whether that’s aspiring homeowners trying to get on the housing ladder or a family in need of social housing. But, if schemes are not viable and not progressing in London, no affordable housing is being built. No one can live in a home that only exists on paper. That is why today the Government and the Greater London Authority are taking the steps necessary to get London building again.

We recognise the challenges and barriers to delivering affordable homes – from rising build costs to planning complexity. Building on existing measures such as actively exploring development on the Green Belt and using grant to maximise affordable housing where appropriate, we are therefore taking decisive action through a range of measures designed to improve the viability of housing developments in the near term, unlock stalled schemes and enable more affordable housing to be built. To drive up delivery in London, the Mayor will have expanded planning powers and an initial allocation of £322 million to establish the City Hall Developer Investment Fund.

While these measures are tailored to the acute challenges facing housebuilding in London, they sit alongside national programmes such as the New Homes Accelerator and the £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme, which will support housing delivery across the country.

One of the practical barriers to housing delivery in London has also been the time taken by the Building Safety Regulator to approve applications for development, with 57 per cent of all cases nationally relating to developments in the capital. Under new leadership, and with enhanced resourcing, the Chair and Chief Executive of the regulator have committed to reducing the existing backlog of 91 buildings by approximately one-third by early November, with a view to eliminating the backlog entirely by the end of the year, and ensuring that new buildings entering the regulatory system from January next year should meet the average target of 12 weeks for a decision.

Our joint package includes five key measures.

1. Temporary Relief from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)

The Government will introduce a temporary and targeted emergency relief from borough-level CIL charges for qualifying brownfield residential schemes (excluding the Green Belt) that begin construction after the new relief is in place and before the end of 2028. The Government will consult on the proposed relief with the intention it will: a) apply to residential floorspace (excluding student and co-living accommodation); b) cover 50 per cent of the CIL charge for schemes which deliver 20 per cent affordable housing (in-line with new time-limited planning route), with the potential for greater levels of relief where a scheme delivers levels of affordable housing above 20 per cent; and c) ensure relief is targeted at schemes that would otherwise remain stalled or fail to come forwards, with a lower relief applicable where the full available amount is shown not to be warranted.

This proposed approach will help to ensure much-needed homes can be built, while maximising the level of affordable housing and enabling CIL receipts to be provided to fund the strategic infrastructure delivered by boroughs in their area. The Government remains committed to improving CIL as a tool to help fund infrastructure that supports delivery of local plans and benefits communities.

2. Removing Barriers to Building at Density

The Mayor of London, with the support of the Government, will be consulting on the withdrawal or revision of elements of guidance that can constrain density. This includes greater flexibility around dual aspect requirements, dwellings per core, and cycle storage standards.

Looking ahead to the next London Plan, the Mayor has signalled his intention to streamline requirements on developers where appropriate — aligning with the Government’s objective to reduce duplication and divergence in planning policy at the local level.

3. A New Time-Limited Planning Route

The Mayor also intends to allow developers to access a new, time-limited planning route to incentivise build out that allows schemes on private land to proceed without a viability assessment, provided they deliver at least 20 per cent affordable housing. Grant will be made available to homes by unit above the first 10 per cent homes on a scheme, which will be nil-grant. A gain-share mechanism will ensure that if market conditions improve, communities benefit too.

The Mayor will consult on this route, which is a temporary measure, introduced to unlock delivery in the short term, while maintaining the importance of affordable housing delivery in the longer term. This route will be open until 31 March 2028 or the publication of the revised London Plan (whichever is soonest). It will sit alongside the existing Fast Track Route (FTR), which retains its 35 per cent affordable housing threshold. While the new route may be used in practice instead of the Fast Track Route during the period it is open, the Government and the Greater London Authority remain committed to the principles underpinning the FTR and to maintaining the 35 per cent threshold in the medium to long term.

This intervention also reinforces existing national policy. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) make clear that Build to Rent schemes are expected to provide affordable housing as Affordable Private Rent. This expectation should be reflected in local plans and decision-making across London.

Alongside the implementation of this package of support, the Government intends to clarify the use of Section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 so that an application under this section to vary a condition of a planning permission should no longer be used as an alternative means of reconsidering fundamental questions of scheme viability or planning obligations. To that end, the Government will update Planning Practice Guidance in due course to clarify the appropriate circumstances in which a Section 73 application can justifiably be used to modify obligations that are set out in a S106 agreement and will consult on, and consider further, how new national policies for decision making can be used to further embed such practice.

4. Changes to existing Planning Powers for the Mayor of London

To ensure that all opportunities are being taken to maximise housing delivery in London and develop at increased densities, the Mayor of London’s existing call-in powers will be expanded. First, the Mayor will be able to review applications of 50 or more homes where a borough is minded to refuse them, through an expedited procedure. Second, the Mayor will be able to call-in developments on Green Belt or Metropolitan Open Land.

The Government will consult on these changes over six weeks from November, with the aim of making the necessary changes to secondary legislation at the earliest opportunity.

These changes will ensure a strategic, joined-up approach to housing delivery across the capital, while maintaining the ability of local communities to comment on planning applications.

In addition, the Government intends to streamline the call-in procedure available to the Mayor, and to give the Mayor greater freedom to grant upfront planning permission for strategic schemes that support London’s growth through Mayoral Development Orders. These changes will require amendments to primary legislation on which the Government will set out further detail in due course.

5. Devolved investment through the City Hall Developer Investment Fund

The Government is confirming £322 million of grant funding to establish a new City Hall Developer Investment Fund. This will enable the Mayor of London to take a more direct and interventionist role to unlock thousands of new homes, including through targeted investment to accelerate delivery on sites – building on the success of the Mayor’s Land Fund, which has already delivered 8,000 homes, five years ahead of its 2030 target.

In addition, the Government and the Mayor of London will work together to develop proposals for the potential New Town locations identified in London, including the support necessary to succeed. We will also collaborate on how investment through the National Housing Bank will be delivered in London, including through a substantial allocation of low-cost loans to support the building of more social and affordable homes.

Summary

The Government and the GLA will consult on the necessary changes from November 2025.

This is a moment for action. Londoners cannot wait. With this package, we are sending a clear message: we are backing boroughs, housebuilders, registered providers and communities to build the homes that London so urgently needs. Taken together, these measures are expected to unlock tens of thousands of homes across the capital and drive economic growth.

The Government and the Mayor of London now hope and expect to see both developers and boroughs embrace this package and get on with approving and building the homes that Londoners need. Together, we can turn the tide on the housing crisis and give more people the security and opportunity that a decent home provides.

Full details of the policies within this package are attached and should be read alongside this statement. I will also deposit the document in the House library.

Homes for London (pdf, 321.3KB)

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wms/?id=2025-10-23.hcws991.0