Agenda Item!""#$%&'() 3 Page 1 Page 2 !""#$%&'() Page 3 This page is intentionally left blank Page 4 Appendix 2 LondonAssembly(Plenary)ExtraordinaryMeeting–3September2013 TranscriptofAgendaItem4:RevisedEarlyMinorAlterationstotheLondonPlan DarrenJohnson(Chair): Thepurposeoftoday’smeetingisfortheAssemblytoformally receiveand,inaccordancewithsection42BoftheGreaterLondonAuthority(GLA)Act1999 (asamended),consideritsresponsetotheRevisedEarlyMinorAlterations(REMA)tothe LondonPlan. CanIthereforewelcometotoday’smeetingourguestsfromtheGLA:SirEdwardLister,Deputy MayorforPlanning;RichardBlakeway,DeputyMayorforHousing,LandandProperty;Stewart Murray,AssistantDirectorofPlanningandRichardLinton,PrincipalStrategicPlanner. MyopeningquestiontoSirEdward:couldyousetouttheaimsandobjectivesoftheRevised EarlyMinorAlterationstotheLondonPlan,aslaidbeforetheAssembly,andhowthealterations addresstheissuesraisedbytheInspector,theAssemblyandthechangestonationalpolicy. SirEdwardLister(DeputyMayorforPlanning): Thankyou,Darren.BeforeIdocouldI justalsointroduceJenniferPeterswhoisaseniorstrategicplannerwithintheteam.Depending uponthequestion,wemightwanttoswaponeofthepeoplehereonthefrontbench,soto speak,withher.Itdependsuponthelineofquestioningandhowitgoes.Ihopethatis acceptabletoyou. Toansweryourquestions:firstly,theaimsandobjectivesofREMA.Theearlyalterationstothe planarereallyunfinishedbusinessfromtheLondonPlanpublishedin2011andtheyintended todothreethings.Firstly,tobringtheplanintoconformitywiththeNationalPlanningPolicy Framework(NPPF)and,asyouwillseeinaminuteorIhopeyouwill,itislargelyinconformity andinfactwehaveonceortwicejokedthattheNPPFwasinconformitywiththeLondonPlan becausethetwoaresoclose.Secondly,topreparethegroundformoresubstantialalterations whichwewanttobringforwardearlynextyearandthosealterationswillbetoaddressthe needsofLondonforthenexttwodecades.Thisisverymuchtheminordocument.Thebigone willbeearlynextyear. WhentheLondonPlanwaspublishedbackinJuly2011,theGovernmentwasstillrevealingthe detailsofitsaffordablehomespolicyand,becauseofthat,itwasnotpossibletorefertoanyof thechangesthatmaytakeplace.OnthatbasisandonacommitmentbytheMayor[of London,BorisJohnson]totheSecretaryofState[forCommunitiesandLocalGovernment,Eric PicklesMP]thathewouldrevisetheplaninthelightofthosechanges,theSecretaryofState agreedtoformallysignofftheplan.Todaywearemakinggoodthatcommitmenttothe SecretaryofState. TheseLondonPlanalterationshavethreebroadobjectives:tomakethePlanpublishedin2011 conformfullywiththeNPPFand,therefore,itbecomes,toallintentsandpurposes,theLondon Page 5 expressionoftheNPPF;toalignthePlanwiththeGovernment’saffordablehousingpolicyand objectivesandtoachieveconsistencyacrossthehousingstrategywhichisarequirementofthe GLAAct;and,thirdly,toincorporaterevisedcycleparkingstandardsandthatisfollowingsome researchthathasrecentlybeendonebyTransportforLondon. TheREMAsetsouttoaddresstheseaimsthroughaseriesofminoramendmentstoexisting policiesandtheiraccompanyingjustificationsanditisimportant,Idostress,thattheseare minor.Oftheplan’s121policies,only12areproposedforalterationtogetherwiththe consequentialchangestotheparagraphsandthejustifyingtext.Nothingnewisbeing introducedandIthinkitisprobablyhelpfulifIsetoutbrieflyhowwearrivedatthispoint. WebeganinNovember2011undertheoldrulesandwecarriedoutpreliminaryconsultations withyourselvesandwiththeGLAGroup.Thatwasfollowedbyawiderconsultationwiththe publicandstatutoryconsultees.TheninMarch2012theGovernmentpublishedtheNPPFand auditsfullyreflectthis.ThesealterationswereagainrevisedandREMAwassubjecttoanother roundofconsultation.ThenlastNovemberashortExaminationinPublicwasheldhereinCity HallandanindependentinspectorwasappointedtocarrythatoutbytheSecretaryofState. TheInspector’sreportwasreceivedbytheMayorinJunethisyear. Ithinkthisisanimportantpointtomakehere.UndertheGLAAct,theLondonPlan’s Inspector’srecommendationstotheMayorarenotbinding.Thisisdifferenttoboroughswhere theywouldbebinding,butforustheyarenotbinding. AsrequiredbythelegislationgoverningalterationstotheLondonPlanandfollowing considerationoftheInspector’srecommendation,theMayorsubmittedtotheSecretaryofState hisresponsetotheinspector’srecommendationstogetherwiththealterationsheintendsto publish.On13AugusttheSecretaryofStatewrotetotheMayortosaythathewascontentfor theMayortopublishtheREMAwithnofurtheramendmentsand,secondly,toconfirmthe approachsetoutinthealterationstoaligntheGovernment’sobjectivesofincreasingdeliveryof affordablehousing.On14AugustthisyeartheMayorpublishedtheInspector’sreportand submittedtheintenttopublishREMAtotheLondonAssemblyforyourconsiderationandthere webringourselvestotoday. Thekeyissues:youaskspecificallyhowtheREMAaddressestheissuesraisedbytheInspector. AttheEIPtheinspectorchose,asishisright,tofocushisexaminationonthosefewsubject areasormatterswhichhefelthadattractedpubliccommentandwhich,inhisview,wenttothe soundnessoftheplan.Heconsideredwhetherthelegalrequirementsforconsultationandfor theenvironmentalandequalitiesappraisalshadbeenmetandhefoundthatREMAfulfilled thosetests. OnthepolicyareasalteredthroughtheREMAheidentifiedthefollowingareasfordetailed examination:sustainability,affordablehousingandaffordablehousingtargets,thehousing needsofgypsiesandtravellers,cyclingstandards,healthandequalitiesandlivingspace-thatis tosaygreenspace,heritageassets,neighbourhoodplanningandtheCommunityInfrastructure Levy(CIL).Fromthesehedecidedtomakerecommendationonjustthree.Thefirstonewas affordablehousing,thesecondonewaslocalgreenspaces,andthethirdonewastheCIL. Page 6 Now,ifIcouldjustconcentrateonthose.Thefirstoneisaffordablehousingandherehewas concentratingonhowthealterationsdealwiththenewaffordablerentproduct.Theproductis definedforplanningpurposesintheNPPFas, “Affordablerentedhousingletbylocalauthoritiesorprivateregisteredprovidersof socialhousingtohouseholdsthatareeligibleforsocialrentedhousing.Affordablerent issubjecttorentcontrolsthatrequirearentofnomorethan80%ofthelocalmarket rent,includingservicechargeswhereapplicable.” TheproductwasintroducedbytheCoalitionGovernmentin2011asawayofcontinuingto deliverasignificantprogrammeofaffordablehousinginadecreasedfundingenvironment. Throughthisproduct,registeredproviderscouldcontinuetodeveloplargenumbersofhomes despitereducedgrantsbybeingallowedtochargehigherrentsonnewandconvertedunits. TheREMAamendmentsonaffordablehousingweremadesotheplancouldbeinlinewiththat andtheNPPFtoensurethedeliveryofLondon’sAffordableHomesProgramme. BecauseNPPFstatesthataffordablerentistobeallocatedtothoseeligibleforsocialrented propertiesandisintendedtomeetthesameneeds,thealterationsincludeaffordablerentwith socialrent.Therefore,itbecomesa60/40affordablehousingsplit,whichisintheplanned policy3.11onhousingtargets.Thatis60%rentedand40%intermediateproductsofonesort oranother.TheInspectoragreedthatthiswasasensibleapproachandtheSecretaryofState approvalfortheplanaffirmsourinterpretationofGovernmentpolicy. AswellasaddingtheaffordablerentproductstotheLondonPlan,theREMAalsomadeitclear throughamendmentstoparagraph3.63and3.68thatboroughsshouldnotsetrentcapsin theirlocaldevelopmentplansofbelow80%ofmarketrentforaffordablerenthomes.Isuspect thatisprobablythebigissuetoday. WhydidtheMayorproposethis?Therearetwomainreasons.First,theNPPFdefinitionmakes itclearthataffordablerentisupto-andIdostresstheupto-80%ofmarketrent.If boroughsweretosetplanningpolicycapsatlessthanthisfigure,housingproviderswouldbe unabletobringforwardthosefewpropertiesathigherrentswhichwouldsubsidisetheprovision ofagreaternumberoflowerrents.Thatisconstrainingoverallaffordableoutputandsqueezing deliverability.Secondly,itwastoheadoffasituationwhereLondonhad33differentrentcaps andthiswouldmakeLondon’sAffordableHomesProgrammealmostimpossibletodeliver. AnumberofboroughsmadeitclearintheirresponsestotheconsultationattheEIPthatthey feltthatbytryingtostopboroughsfromsettingtheirownrentlevelsintheirownplansthe Mayorwaspreventingthemfrommeetingtheirobjectivelyassessedneedsasrequiredbythe NPPF.However,theMayorisfirmlyoftheopinionthathisapproachisinlinewiththeNPPF andwenowhavethreelettersfromtheDepartmentforCommunitiesandLocalGovernment (DCLG)Ministersallconfirmingandsupportingthatview. Thealterationseekstomaintainflexibilityonrentlevelsinordertomaintainthedeliverabilityof affordablehousingwithintheparametersagreedaspartoftheAffordableHomesProgramme, Page 7 whichincludesdeliveringfamilyhomesthatmeettheneed,inthecontextofwelfarereform,at anaverageof65%ofmarketrentacrossLondon.Theoperationof33differentrentpolicies acrossLondonwouldinhibitthedeliveryofaLondon-wideprogrammewhereregistered providersoperateacrossboroughboundaries. Inthesecondandthirdpartsofhisrecommendations,theInspectorrecommendedtheremoval ofbothparagraphsintheplanthatstatedthatboroughsshouldnotattempttosetcapsashe felttheywereoverlyprescriptive.Giventhereasoningalreadysetout-andIamsurewewill delveintothisinsomedetail-thattheDCLGMinistersfullysupportedtheMayor’sviewthat rentcontrolshouldnotbeimposedthroughplanningpolicy,theMayordidnotsupportthe recommendationsoftheinspectortoremovetheseparagraphs.AsIsay,wehavetheSecretary ofState’sapprovaltotheproposalsandhehasupheldtheMayor’sviewandhestatedinhis letterof13August,andIthinkitisworthquoting: “Imposingrentcontrolsthroughlocalplanningpolicieswouldhindertheobjective,iethe Government’sobjectiveofincreasingthedeliveryofaffordablehousing,andriskletting Londonersdownbylimitingthesupplyofaffordablehousingandreducingchoicefor tenants.” TherewasafurtherrecommendationfromtheInspector-thefirstpartofrecommendation1(c) -inrelationtodecidingonrentlevelsonascheme-by-schemebasiswheretheyarenotfunded