Hackney council looks like it has been defeated in its attempt to prevent superdense development spreading to the east London borough.

Giles Dolphin, head of planning decisions at the Greater London Authority, has told Hackney that it cannot cap the density of developments at 250 dwellings per hectare.

He said the policy would undermine the London plan’s drive to increase housing provision in the capital.

Hackney was relying on this policy to insist that at least one third of all development should be three-bedroom family properties.