Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Property Industry Eye. Read the original article for full details.

Report Calls on Tories and Reform to Act on London Housing Crisis

A new report backed by centre-right think tanks urges the Conservatives and Reform UK to address London’s housing crisis, stating that the capital already has the legislative tools needed to deliver more homes but lacks the political will to use them. The report, titled ‘Fixing London Housing’, was published by the Centre for Policy Studies and Onward and sets out proposals to boost housing delivery through regeneration, brownfield development, and planning reform.

The report features forewords from James Cleverly, Conservative shadow housing secretary, and Laila Cunningham, Reform’s mayoral candidate for London. Both highlight the importance of political leadership in increasing housebuilding in the capital.

Key Proposals for Housing Delivery

The report identifies five major categories of opportunity:

• Creation of two new Development Corporations in Southern Tower Hamlets and the Old Kent Road Bakerloo line extension corridor, and increased powers for the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation.
• Estate regeneration, with the potential to deliver 500,000 additional homes by doubling density on London’s ageing post-war estates.
• Release of 2,293 hectares of Strategic Industrial Land within walking distance of Tube, rail, and tram stations.
• Improved use of public land through five-year asset management pipelines.
• A strong presumption in favour of brownfield development in the London Plan, including scrapping Biodiversity Net Gain requirements for London brownfield, raising environmental impact assessment screening thresholds, and extending full expensing to cover brownfield regeneration.

The report also suggests expanding homeowners’ rights to develop their properties, making more effective use of London’s social housing stock, and removing planning and regulatory requirements that are said to restrict development under both the London Plan and national policy.

Implications for Letting Agents and Inventory Clerks

The recommendations are intended as a blueprint for a future Conservative or Reform administration in Westminster or at City Hall. The report states that London has the country’s greatest housing need and the strongest public support for new housing development. It claims London requires an additional 1.85 million homes to meet demand, while housing starts have fallen to their lowest level since the Second World War.

The authors argue that a significant increase in housing delivery is needed to address the capital’s long-term housing shortage.