‘Opportunity boroughs’ created to boost London homes target

New “opportunity boroughs” could take on a significant amount of the strain as London attempts to up its annual homebuilding target from 23,000 to 30,000.

The boroughs, which will share in an ODPM £70m pot to improve infrastructure, were last week revealed to be Barnet, Brent, Islington and Barking & Dagenham. They will use the money on projects designed to facilitate and support major new housebuilding, and additional opportunity boroughs could join the process later this year.

Although the Government Office for London was remaining tight-lipped about the amount of new homes it wants the opportunity boroughs to build, Barnet alone says it wants to nearly double its current London Plan target from 17,500 by 2016 to 34,000.

Brian Reynolds, deputy chief executive at Barnet council, said it wants to spend its share of the money on highway improvements and transport links. The changes in infrastructure would allow it to increase housing in Colindale from 1800 to 3300 homes.

Under the London Plan the capital has to build 23,000 new homes a year until 2016. Speaking last Wednesday at the launch of the London Housing Delivery Plan Neale Coleman, the London mayor’s policy adviser, revealed that the initial response of the Greater London Authority’s housing capacity study, due out this summer, indicated that an “aspirational” target of 30,000 new homes was achievable.

However, senior figures from some London boroughs warned that spending commitments well beyond those set out for the opportunity boroughs would be needed for this to happen.

A spokesman for Wandsworth council said: “When the London Plan was launched we warned the mayor that building on this scale puts enormous stress on infrastructure.

“The proposed Clapham Junction to East London overground line is not happening. The [proposed] Tube link to Clapham Junction is not happening. How much more can the infrastructure take?”

Pierre Williams, director of communications for the House Builders Federation, also urged a rethink. He said: “It is a question of sorting out the viability of Section 106 demands for affordable housing targets and the planning system granting enough applications. Let’s just see if it happens.”