More than 27,000 homes could be built on strategic industrial land which is threatened with increased restrictions in the mayor’s draft London Plan.
Research by Conservative London Assembly member Andrew Boff has found 1,214 acres of under-used SIL in the capital sits within designated housing zones.
In the draft London Plan, published last month, mayor of London Sadiq Khan has ordered tighter restrictions on change of use on SIL, meaning councils now have to provide like-for-like alternatives if the sites are used for housing.
One area of SIL in Southwark holds the potential for more than 6,000 homes, with a further 4,000 in Hillingdon and 3,000 in Brent, according to the research.
Boff is calling on the mayor to capitalise on this land and scrap plans for additional SIL regulations within London’s housing zones, allowing local authorities to free up the sites for developers.
London Assembly member Andrew Boff said: “London absolutely needs a percentage of designated industrial land. However, when an area is listed as a housing zone it seems counter-productive to block homes being built on parts of it that are otherwise sitting vacant.
“Sadiq Khan’s London Plan has made it easier for someone to build a small block of flats in their back garden but made it more difficult to build on a large area of waste land. It’s a backwards approach to solving the housing crisis.”
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “Andrew Boff’s approach would be hugely damaging to London’s economy and under his proposals, there’s a risk thousands of Londoners could find their jobs have been moved miles out of the city, putting huge additional pressure on the capital’s transport infrastructure and on people’s work-life balance.
“The evidence clearly shows that under the previous mayor, London lost too much industrial capacity – about three times the London Plan benchmark. Khan is clear that industrial land is the engine room of the capital’s economy – providing nearly half a million jobs.
“The Plan has identified where an ambitious target of 65,000 new homes can be built each year in the capital on brownfield land, without having to encroach on the green belt. It sets out how valuable industrial capacity will be retained, promoting intensification of industrial areas and co-locating industrial uses with new housing where appropriate.
“His London Plan clearly sets out how we can build the affordable homes London so desperately needs and boost jobs and growth in the city, demonstrating that he is a mayor for all Londoners.”
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