Small and medium sized developments account for two in three new build schemes in London’s pipeline, but will only provide one in five of the properties, according to new research
The study from Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward (KFH) shows that there are currently a total of 1,031 private new build developments all more than 20 properties per development either awaiting planning permission, with planning consent awaiting construction, or under construction.
These schemes will provide a total of 214,875 properties, the equivalent of 17 years of housing delivery in London based on the average number of private homes completed per year in London over the last five years.
However, the analysis also shows that while SMDs account for the majority of schemes in the planning pipeline at 66%, with 41,878 individual properties between them they will only provide a fraction of the overall number of properties in London’s pipeline at 19%.
‘The Government’s Housing White Paper makes clear that small and medium sized developments are vital for London to meet its housing need. Our analysis proves that more has to be done to support developers at the smaller end of the scale,’ said John East, director of land and new homes at KFH.
‘Making more land available for these developments and accelerating the construction of sites that already have planning permission is a start, but securing consent will remain a challenge where there are local sensitivities,’ he added.
The research found that while the overall picture for London shows SMDs providing just a fifth of units, the picture across the boroughs shows that five boroughs have SMDs providing the majority of units in the local pipeline.
Bromley has the largest proportion of units being delivered by SMDs with 70.5%, while Camden, Westminster, Richmond upon Thames and Kensington and Chelsea all have a majority of units within SMDs at 66%, 63.4%, 63.1% and 53.8% respectively.
Newham, Barking and Dagenham and Hammersmith and Fulham have the lowest proportion of units being delivered by SMDs at just 4.3%, 5.7% and 7.9% respectively.
‘It is clear many boroughs need to do more to include SMDs in their local plans and get behind the developers hoping to build them. Of course, only a unified approach will work; local authorities, central government and developers must work together if London is to get anywhere close to fulfilling its housing requirement,’ East explained.
The research analysed all private residential new development schemes in London’s pipeline including schemes awaiting planning permission, schemes with consent but awaiting construction, and schemes under construction.
The analysis breaks down schemes by unit numbers and borough to provide a clear picture of London’s new homes landscape in the light of the government’s Housing White Paper and the emphasis it places on the importance of small and medium sized developments.
