This meeting took place on 17 November 2015. Read the transcript here.
Before a new property development gets planning permission, the developer and the local council negotiate how many affordable homes the developer can finance – known as a ‘viability assessment’.
Developers say they operate on razor-tight margins - but these assessments have been labelled a ‘dark art’ by the Mayor – who suggests developers are ‘getting away’ with building too few affordable homes.[1] The result can be fewer affordable homes and higher land values.
Are property developers’ profits large enough to help pay for more affordable homes?
Can councils attract and train the skilled staff required to check the facts?
And how can the Mayor encourage a better approach to viability to ensure more affordable homes are built?
The London Assembly Planning Committee will tomorrow explore these issues, hearing from the following:
- Tony Mulhall, Associate Director, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
- Robert Fourt, Partner, Gerald Eve
- Dr Sue Brownill, Reader in Urban Policy and Governance, Oxford Brookes University
- Dr Bob Colenutt, Senior Lecturer, University of Northampton
- Professor Pat McAllister, Professor of Real Estate, Henley Business School, University of Reading
- John Wacher, Viability and Section 106 Manager, London Borough of Islington.
Community groups will also share their experiences of viability.
The meeting will take place tomorrow, Tuesday 17 November from 10:00am in Committee Room 5, City Hall (The Queen’s Walk, London SE1).
Media and members of the public are invited to attend. The meeting can also be viewed via webcast.
Notes to editors
- Mayor’s Question Time, 15 July 2015.
- Agenda Papers
- Nicky Gavron AM, Chair of the Planning Committee, is available for interview. See contact details below.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
For media enquiries, please contact Ash Singleton on 020 7983 5769. For out of hours media enquiries, call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the London Assembly duty press officer. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100.