Better use of brownfield sites could help to deliver an extra 1.4m homes for Londoners
AN EXTRA 1.4m new homes could be built across London by making better use of brownfield land, new research from London First and property advisers Savills has found.
The report argues that London is not as dense as other major cities such as Paris and that outer London areas, including Tottenham, Hounslow and Old Oak Common, could support more homes.
If the areas identified in the survey were to match higher density areas in London, then this could result in 1.4m more homes compared with 424,000 outlined by the government in its 10-year London Plan.
Jo Valentine, chief executive of London First, said: “London is in the midst of a housing crisis and the business community believes housing costs are a major threat to the capital’s international competitiveness.”
She said London’s planning policies need to give “strategic support to building at a higher density”, although only in the appropriate location.
The 1.4m figure doesn’t take into consideration local circumstances, but even building a tenth of these homes would lead to 52,000 new homes a year.