"Councils across the UK cave in as developers refuse to undertake building projects unless they deliver healthy profits"
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| Link to The Guardian |
"Housebuilders and councils in Britain's biggest cities are failing to comply with affordable housing targets, and even ripping up legal commitments to build cheaper homes. A three-month study by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism for Society Guardian has established that 60% of the biggest housing developments currently in the planning system are falling short of local affordable housing targets, preventing thousands of cheaper homes being built.
"... In London, where the number of people accepted as homeless stands at 14,812, one of the largest developments going through the planning system shows less than 17% of the planned 15,000 units will be affordable. This is despite Lambeth, one of the two councils involved in the 195-hectare (480-acre) development in south London, stating to its tenants council two years ago that affordable housing could account for 35% of new units built in its section.
"... Sir Edward Lister, deputy mayor of London responsible for policy and planning, says that while the priority is to get new schemes off the ground, the mayor would intervene in future to raise affordable housing numbers if it was shown that developers were making disproportionately large profits:
"I'm not trying to defend the property industry, but I do believe they have been through a bad time and I believe it's more important to get building moving. Fifteen or 20% of something is better than nothing."
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