Combined with their dominance in the Commons, Labour has control over 21 of the 33 London Authorities (following the 2022 local elections) and of course the Greater London Authority is led by a Labour Mayor following Sadiq Khan’s re-election just 2 months ago. Throughout his campaign for re-election, Sadiq Khan asked Londoners to imagine what a Labour Mayor and government could do together. The Mayor has been publicly critical throughout his time in power to date of the constraints that a Conservative government has placed on him, but that is all now changed. It is not that long since the then Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove (note that this department has now dropped the Levelling Up name and is now the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) directed Sadiq Khan to review the London Plan in March. In that direction, Michael Gove pointed towards policies on industrial land and opportunity areas that he claimed were constraining housebuilding in the capital. Mr Gove directed that the review conclude by 30th September but with a new government in power and a new minister (Angela Rayner) to report to, whether this review will continue remains to be seen.

Sadiq Khan has set out his wish-list from Whitehall and is advocating for a £2.2 billion stimulus package to boost home building in the capital. The Labour party set out in their election manifesto that they would deliver 1.5 million new homes across the next parliament (a pledge reiterated by Rachel Reeves in her first speech as Chancellor on 8th July) and Mr Khan suggested that a large chunk of that should be in London.

In his recent election manifesto, the Mayor promised to build 40,000 new council homes by the end of the decade and to unlock affordable housebuilding by creating new Land Assembly Zones and Mayoral Development Corporations. All of this will no doubt require further funding from central government.

At a national level, Labour has already set about outlining their plan for growth, with planning and development at the heart. In her first speech as Chancellor on Monday 8th July, Rachel Reeves announced the revival of compulsory housebuilding targets and an overhaul of planning restrictions. This includes a review of green belt boundaries to prioritise brownfield land and “grey belt” land which was referenced throughout Labour’s pre-election campaigning. Hundreds of thousands of new homes could be delivered on the so-called ‘grey-belt’ with just over 40% of these within the London green belt area. Whilst this would be a substantial driver for supply, it will not solve the housing crisis alone and measures to boost the supply of homes in other areas will need to accompany the measures. One such policy measure is Labour’s new towns, whilst in London, densification and optimisation must be promoted on suitable sites in order to deliver the homes needed.

There is undoubtedly a need for radical changes to the planning system. That was almost universal across party pledges in recent campaigning following stagnation in the delivery of housing and plan making . Labour have come to power at a national level, in conjunction with a Labour Mayor, there is renewed hope in the capital that pledges and targets can be met. There will no doubt be further announcements in the coming weeks and months, and the consultation on a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) by the end of July (announced by Rachel Reeves on 8th July) will be the first real indicator of Labour’s direction of travel in government. Following this, there is likely to be a need to review the London Plan policies to bring it into line with expected NPPF changes, specifically those related to the ‘Grey Belt’.