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Where next for housing in politically changing London boroughs?

Now the dust has settled across London after May’s borough council elections what key themes are emerging for housing where there has been notable changes in Council leadership or composition? We take a look at some of the councils in London that have experienced the most change since May and housing policies in those boroughs.

Probably the most talked about borough in London prior to the May elections was Haringey, mainly due to leader Claire Kober standing down, after many supporters of the Haringey Development Vehicle (HDV) were deselected by Momentum-dominated Labour party branches. So what has happened since?

Labour councillors narrowly elected Councillor Joseph Ejiofor to succeed Claire Kober. Cllr Ejiofor has in interviews since the election stressed that Haringey is a Labour council, not a Momentum council. However Momentum has certainly flexed their muscles in the borough and the council has shifted to the left. The leading councillors are prominent Momentum members: both Ejiofor and deputy leader Emina Ibrahim are on the Momentum National Executive Council. One of the first major moves by the Council, albeit hardly unsurprising, came in July when they voted to abandon the HDV project. This was despite a cabinet report that acknowledged the risk that the council could miss its housing target and incur censure from national government.

Moreover there is already evidence of a change in the way councillors prefer to see affordable housing delivered. In the two planning committees since the election, members have been clear that social and affordable rented tenures is their preferred way forward for the borough rather than intermediate forms of affordable housing. While Ejiofor is among the more moderate section of Momentum in Haringey, a wide spectrum of Labour opinion doubts the value of intermediate housing and shared ownership.

There have also been significant changes in Haringey’s neighbouring borough of Enfield. After the election the local Labour group elected a new leader in Nesil Caliskan who became at the time the youngest council leader in London, the first female leader of Enfield and the first person of Turkish heritage to lead a council in Britain. One of her first decisions was to agree a new strategy for the 10,000 home Meridian Water regeneration scheme after the council failed to agree terms with Pacific Century Premium Developments (PCPD), which led to PCPD exiting the process.

The revised plan will see the council work with multiple partners rather than one master developer to build the scheme. Caliskan has said the reason for this was the risk that the majority of homes built would be sold to overseas buyers, which was not something she was willing to sign up to. Thus, says the council leader, the Council’s new plan for Meridian Water will lead to a better deal for residents: her aim is to deliver for local residents and reduce inequality in the borough.

This is emblematic of an emerging theme across Labour boroughs in the capital, a greater focus on delivering what they deem to be truly affordable housing for local residents. In Newham the newly elected Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz made truly affordable housing for local people one of her key manifesto pledges during the election. Within the second week of her mayoralty a commitment was announced to develop a joint action plan with the Greater London Authority and the Mayor of London to increase the number of affordable homes built in Newham.

Moving much further south and west across London, Kingston Upon Thames experienced a big swing away from the Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats returning a huge majority for the Lib Dems, with them taking 39 of 48 seats available, leaving the Conservatives on a rump of just nine seats. Before the election Kingston had a pro-development leadership under Kevin Davis with the only problems at committee for developers coming from the Liberal Democrat opposition.

On numerous occasions Lib Dems voted against unpopular housing developments, best exemplified by their opposition to Meyer Homes’s Tolworth scheme, a huge 950 home project replacing former Government offices.

So three months on from the Lib Dems taking power in the borough have they continued with past form and objected to housing developments? The answer so far is no. Whilst it is early days they have approved several major developments and voted to approve the Meyer Homes Tolworth scheme, despite previous opposition to it. The Lib Dems have asserted their five priorities for development in the borough; design, sustainability, accessibility, affordability and public realm. New housing developments will theoretically be judged on those measures.

Overall then what are the main conclusions three months on from where changes occurred in councils across the capital? Some Labour councils are shifting to the left on housing, delivering policies aimed at producing more truly affordable housing, echoing the Labour Party’s national policies that have emerged over the past year. While in the South West the Liberal Democrats in administration are more pro-development than their years in opposition.

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Smooth operation

Many thanks for last night: a very smooth operation!

Message was very welcome

Was a great result – especially to receive unanimous approval! Many thanks also for you and your team’s work in the run up to the committee. Getting those messages across really helped and was evident by the feedback given by members on both sides of the political spectrum … notably on the successfully engagement with residents and how the scheme responded accordingly. Message was very welcome!

On point

Harry was on point and has been the whole way through. We are all very chuffed. We are already preparing for another rather testing application on another site and you can be certain that we will engage you

Appreciated

Thanks Richard, your help has been much appreciated. Will let you know when the next job comes up!

Big guns!

Thanks for your and the team’s help. It was good to know we had the proverbial big guns in our armoury!

You kept calm

Many thanks for that: your team did very well, and kept a lot calmer than me! Matt was a sensible wise head, as was Alex, but he also made me think succinctly for the questions and how to answer, which is a great skill to try and acquire. Especially for someone as verbose as me!

A unanimous approval

Councillors praised both officers and the developer on their work and engagement.

A unanimous approval 5-0

With your help

Really pleased to hear the news this evening

With your help, we got it through !!!!

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Truly excellent example

Great news that we approved 60 houses on green belt last night.

It was tremendous that the Chair said that this was a “truly excellent example of good consultation…”

Gave me more confidence

Thank you – we were both somewhat surprised given the level of objections but in fact the committee hardly discussed the scheme at all before consenting it.

Thanks to your team for preparing me well for the committee which certainly gave me more confidence.

A big relief

Thank you. A big relief. As I am sure you can appreciate, we are delighted!

Your team did a great job, especially Matt who was integral.

I look forward to catching up soon.

Unanimous

196 flats approved unanimously, thanks to all involved.

Professional and effective

I wanted to thank you and all at Thorncliffe for managing the consultation process so professionally and effectively. This, without doubt, played a crucial role in gaining the approval.

Once again, all our thanks.

Was a good result

Cant remember the last time I got anything through unanimously!

Was a good result, it’s the right scheme for the site and of course we had a great team including yourselves working on it,

First class troops

Richard. Your troops did a first class job as always. Many thanks

Praise for communityUK

Well done for the way you presented tonight’s online consultation. I thought it was an excellent format.

Great result last night

I just wanted to say thank you again for all your help with the great result last night.

You have been tremendous and it is much appreciated.

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