Sadiq Khan urged to use compulsory purchases to offer more homes
Key Points
- BusinessLDN urges Mayor to use compulsory purchase powers on stalled sites
- Report recommends Mayoral Development Orders and Development Corporations
- London's housing target rises to 88,000 homes a year
- 88,838 homes sit on stalled or paused sites in growth zones
- Group calls for fewer, delivery-focused Opportunity Areas
The Mayor of London should use compulsory purchase powers and Mayoral Development Orders to force through stalled housing schemes, business group BusinessLDN has said ahead of the new draft London Plan.
In a report produced with planning consultancy Quod, the group urged the Greater London Authority to take a more proactive approach to the capital’s 48 Opportunity Areas, directing Mayoral planning, land, infrastructure and transport powers towards locations critical to London’s growth.
The recommended toolkit includes Mayoral Development Corporations, targeted infrastructure funding and compulsory purchase.
The intervention comes with housing starts in London at an all-time low and the capital’s housebuilding target set to rise to 88,000 homes a year, up from 52,000 in the 2021 London Plan.
Faster delivery in the growth zones would directly affect the supply of new homes reaching the market, a key factor in the rents and prices Londoners pay.
The report also called for a reduction in the number of Opportunity Areas, arguing the designation should be focused more clearly on delivery, and for job targets in outer London to be revised to reflect where the market has moved.
More than 10 of the zones have lost jobs since designation, including Croydon, Kingston, Ilford and Sutton.
BusinessLDN said Opportunity Area policy has grown from a short paragraph with three bullet points in 2004 to two parts and 19 sub-clauses today, and recommended the next London Plan simplify the framework while reinstating the original ambition to exceed minimum housing targets. It also urged a review of planning obligations that hit scheme viability.
On infrastructure, the report pointed to the Tax Increment Financing model that helped fund the Northern Line Extension to Battersea, using future business rate growth, as an example of joint funding that could be repeated where growth areas need major new transport links.
The analysis found 88,838 homes in Opportunity Areas sit on stalled or paused sites, with a further 71,085 consented but not started.
The GLA signalled its intention to review the designation in its May 2025 consultation document, Towards a New London Plan, and is expected to publish the draft plan for public consultation shortly.
