London appoints 25 developers to push ahead with new land panel

The panel is charged with making it faster, easier and cheaper for public land owners to bring forward land for development to combat the severe shortage of homes in London. As a result of the transfer of assets under the Localism Act 2011 the Greater London Authority (GLA) is currently one of the largest owners of public land in London. The Mayor wants to speed up the release of this, and other publicly held land, to get more homes built for Londoners and support the capital’s economy. The London Development Panel, set up with the support of London Councils, establishes a framework agreement between the developers involved enabling public land owners, including London’s boroughs and government bodies, to award individual contracts without having to go through a full and expensive procurement process each time, thus saving them time and money. It also offers the potential for developers to build now and pay later for land on some schemes procured through the panel, making schemes more viable and generating a better return to the public purse in the long term. This one stop route to development is expected to see the Panel procure up to £5 billion of housing led mixed use development on public land over its four year term. ‘The demand for housing in the capital is reaching unprecedented levels making the potential for development on public land far too important to ignore. The London Development Panel will act as a one stop shop for public land owners in the capital, making it quicker, easier and cheaper for them to bring their land forward for development, increasing the number of homes being built, creating jobs and boosting the capital’s economy,’ said Johnson. Sir Steve Bullock, executive member for Housing, London Councils said that the list of potential developers means that all of the public sector will have access to a select list of carefully vetted developers. ‘This will support the building of new homes on land owned by the public sector. Investing in housing not only helps tackle the current shortage of affordable homes, but also creates jobs and stimulates growth,’ he added. The developers selected are: Affinity Sutton Homes, Ardmore First Base Partnership, BDW Trading, Bellway Homes, Bouygues Leadbitter Consortium, Carillion-igloo and Genesis, Catalyst Housing, Countryside Properties (UK), Family Mosaic & Mulalley, Galliford Try, Hadley Mace Holdings, Higgins Group, Kier, Lend Lease Europe Holdings, London & Quadrant Housing Trust, Lovell Partnerships, Notting Hill Housing, Places for People Homes, Redrow Homes, Regenter, Rydon Construction, Taylor Wimpey UK, The Berkeley Group, Telford Homes and Wates Construction.