LONDON HOUSING STRATEGY

London housing strategy

London housing strategy

ntroduction

London accounts for around 40 per cent of the HCA's national budget.137 This represents a combined 103 budget of around £5 billion in London for the period 2008-2011, partly still managed nationally (for example, the Decent Homes programme and arms length management organisation [ALMO] funding) but mainly administered by the HCA London region. The aim over the spending review period is to seek to bring these funding streams together, moving towards a single pot for London. The specific HCA arrangements in London recognise the capital's uniqueness - in terms of its governance, its economic position as the cornerstone of the UK economy, and the scale of its housing challenge. To reflect this, the HCA London Board has been set up to direct the HCA's London programme (DCLG, 2006,, 89).

However ,the upswing in the development cycle is well established with the peak due this year. There is currently 8.8m sq ft under construction on a speculative basis in Central London. However, the amount of space to be delivered to the market over the next few years has fallen considerably due to a number of factors. As a result of the credit crunch, finance conditions are much tighter and estimates of future demand and rental levels are much less optimistic. Construction cost inflation has also played a role. Increasingly schemes are experiencing 3-6 months delays associated with labour or material shortages, which are affecting estimated delivery times. The combination of these factors might mean that the development pipeline will be lower than currently envisaged. A significant proportion of development scheduled for 2009 and 2010 is still at proposal stage, some of which will not proceed to their proposed timescale if market conditions worsen. As some schemes are quite large, there is potential for a significant curtailment of the pipeline in these years (DCLG, 2006,, 89).

The London Plan

The London Plan is a document written by the Mayor of London in the UK , and published by the Greater London Authority . The first publication in its final form dated 10 February 2004 and has since been amended (London, 2005,, 145).

The plan replaced the previous strategic plan of London from Secretary of State, known as the RPG3. This plan should be public and deal only with matters of strategic importance to Greater London, according to the specifications of the Greater London Authority Act 1999. Among these topics are: (London, 2005,, 145).

the health of Londoners;

equal opportunities;

Contribution to sustainable development in the United Kingdom.

Objectives

This plan outlines the development strategy of Greater London and has six goals:

Provide housing in line with the growth of London, within its limits without overflowing on green space

Make London a better city for its inhabitants

London grow with a strong and diversified economy

Promoting social inclusion and combat discrimination of all kinds

Improve the accessibility of London

Make London more attractive, more functional and green.

Research questions

What is the vision of the London housing strategy?

What is the role of GLA and HCA in ensuring the solution ...