On London Extra: What next for the Green Belt?

The Mayor has changed his approach. Plus Labour's Uxbridge Syndrome, Zack Polanski's pitch, VE Day Bits of Joy, a London film from 1964 and more

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Now it's official. Speaking in Greenwich this morning, Sir Sadiq Khan officially announced that, in a big change of approach, he intends to "actively explore" the release of some Green Belt land for homebuilding and "forge a new consensus" to bring about the huge increase in "affordable" supply required to meet demand. We knew this was coming because City Hall has signalled it and the national government wants it. So, what happens next?

The Green Belt announcement signalled the launch of the consultation on the next London Plan, the Mayor's big blueprint for the capital's development over the next 20-odd years. The London Plan's policies have to be in "general conformity" with the government's National Planning Policy Framework - hence the Mayor's new willingness to countenance building on scruffier bits of Green Belt, dubbed "grey belt" by Sir Keir Starmer - and the Local Plans of the boroughs have to be in general conformity with the London Plan.

Formally aligning these things takes ages: the last new London Plan, Mayor Khan's first, wasn't published until March 2021, nearly five years after he was first elected, with the delays made worse by the high-handed political interventions of Robert "Westferry Bob" Jenrick, back then the Conservatives' communities secretary and now a Nigel Farage tribute act.

However, signalling that planning rules will change can, of itself, bring about a change in the focus of developers and the attitude of boroughs. And Mayors can publish supplementary planning guidance consistent with the existing London Plan policies, as Khan did it 2017 with the aim of increasing the proportion of new homes in private housing schemes that met his definition of "genuinely affordable".