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High Court says mayor’s planning guidance inconsistent with London Plan

A High Court judge has ruled that the mayor of London’s Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) is “not lawful” as it is inconsistent with the London Plan.

 

 

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High Court says mayor’s planning guidance inconsistent with London Plan

Four retirement housing developers which launched a legal challenge to the SPG welcomed the judgement, claiming that it “shows the extent to which planning policy at the national and local level is not sufficiently supportive of the housing needs of older people”.

 

However, Mr Justice Ouseley, who presided over the case, rejected in his written judgement two of the three grounds on which the quartet of claimants brought the judicial review of the guidance.

 

The four claimants – McCarthy & Stone, Churchill Retirement Living, Pegasus Life and Renaissance Retirement – argued that the SPG, which was adopted in August 2017, would discriminate against specialist housing for the elderly as these schemes would not be eligible for a fast-track planning process offered to developments with at least 35 per cent on-site affordable housing.

 

The quartet of developers brought three grounds for judicial review: that the SPG represented a substantive new policy and so should have been subject to an independent examination;

that the effects of the SPG’s ‘two speed’ system on the delivery of affordable housing, particularly specialist housing for the elderly, should have been subject to a strategic environmental assessment; and that the SPG was in breach of the mayor’s obligations under the Equality Act and the European Convention on Human Rights.

 

The judge rejected the second and third grounds but agreed that the SPG was unlawful as it conflicted with the London Plan.

 

Despite permission being granted to argue the case on one of the three grounds brought, City Hall welcomed the judgement, claiming that it supported the mayor’s “threshold” approach to affordable housing.

 

Jules Pipe, deputy mayor for planning, skills and regeneration, said tackling the housing crisis is the mayor’s top priority and that City Hall’s guidance sets out a quicker and more consistent approach.

 

“I am pleased that the judge has backed this approach, which will help us to turn around years of neglect when it comes to building the homes Londoners so desperately need,” said Mr Pipe.


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However, a spokesperson for the claimants said that the statement from City Hall was “extremely misleading”.

 

The spokesperson said the quartet were “delighted” that they were successful on ground one of the judicial review and that it shows planning policy at the national and local level is not sufficiently supportive of the housing needs of older people.

 

They said: “The mayor’s new policy would exacerbate the situation by effectively making it economically impossible to bring forward private retirement development in London. Older people are the fastest growing demographic in the capital and the London Plan calls for around 4,000 new retirement housing units to be built each year. However, supply is currently in the low hundreds.”

 

The spokesperson said the quartet looks forward to “working closely with the mayor and his team to agree a resolution and increase much-needed housing options for older Londoners.”

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