...as Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has taken the first step towards removing the 50% London wide affordable housing target.
Peter Bolton King, Chief Executive of the NAEA, comments: "It is refreshing to see that the Mayor is adopting a more realistic approach to the much needed Affordable Housing situation. Every authority has different priorities and to work with councils on an individual basis, to ensure individual targets are delivered, seems a much more feasible option that will deliver the desired results. We have seen from The Mayors past predecessor that enforcing blanket demand on all councils is not easy to operate or control and in the past did not deliver the results needed.
"Councils will soon have the power to negotiate with developers under their own steam, allowing the establishment the flexibility it needs. After all, every development site has its own characteristics and problems; be it issues of contamination, noise, flood risk and so on. All these factors can handicap the viability of sites which consequently will have a knock on effect for providing appropriate Affordable Housing and councils hitting targets. It is hoped that with this new collaborative approach, London Boroughs will be able to negotiate more freely with developers; meaning in the long-run more Affordable Housing schemes will be forthcoming. This will go some way to assist the governments housing supply figures and help struggling first time buyers take a step onto the property ladder."
