I’m on the planning committee of one of the most urban of urban Boroughs, one of the most pro growth in London despite having the highest population density. The main obstacle to development is viability: land prices and expected profit margins.
Replies
Interesting claim. Not sure how to square that with the fact that Islington last saw sustained housebuilding above 1% over 50 years ago - quite different to e.g. Tower Hamlets. Islington's high land values are a signal that high housebuilding should be viable, but something is blocking development.
jul 3, 2025, 9:53 pm • 0 0 • view
In Islington, we are running out of land and sites have very high values. Tower Hamlets has/had a large stock of brownfield land which is being rapidly developed. In Islington we presently have two very large consented schemes (stalled by fire regulations) to deliver about 1,300 additional homes.
jul 4, 2025, 1:00 pm • 0 0 • view
There is one other site (at Archway) which, despite the local plan saying "housing", has a pending scheme which would have been refused because it mainly proposes purpose built student accommodation. Over the past 15 years, we've consented student schemes way above London Plan requirements.
jul 4, 2025, 1:03 pm • 0 0 • view
Right - so you have an allocated site, that you admit you would have blocked for a political reason. A slam dunk example of why planning committees need to be removed from allocated sites if the Government is to have a whiff of a chance of getting to 1.5 million homes this Parliament.
jul 5, 2025, 6:45 pm • 0 0 • view
Site allocation at Archway is for conventional housing, the applicant wants to mainly provide purpose built student accommodation. Officers rejected as not plan compliant.
jul 6, 2025, 9:49 am • 0 0 • view
The politics is clear, Ant: we allocate a site for housing which will contribute to the 1.5million new homes and have rejected a scheme which won’t.
jul 6, 2025, 9:55 am • 0 0 • view
Lots of problems at the officer level too ofc, which is why we need NDMPs and Brownfield Passports to trump local plan policy and increase urban housebuilding. The numbers don't lie - Islington has built far less than it should have for at least half a century, as it blocks rather than builds.
jul 6, 2025, 12:25 pm • 0 0 • view
That's just nonesense, Ant. "built far less than it should have for at least half a century," Islington's newly built housing is almost entirely purpose built flats. Between 1981 and 2021 Census, this category of housing increased from 35,000 to 55,000.
jul 6, 2025, 6:43 pm • 0 0 • view
Have you ever visited Islington, Ant? The last sizeable brownfield development site was built 20 years ago (Lough Rd/Ashburton Grove). One site now being built (ex Holloway prison) is under construction now - over 1,000 homes. Nothing blocked there.
jul 6, 2025, 6:46 pm • 0 0 • view
You want officers to decide but now say they're biased too. You want plan-led developments to be OK'd but now you want local plans trumped by NDPMs. Make up your mind chum.
jul 6, 2025, 6:47 pm • 0 0 • view