Quotas for affordable housing in London reduced

Ministers have confirmed plans to reduce affordable housing quotas for developers in London as they try to reverse the collapse in housebuilding in the capital.

- Kiran Stacey Policy editor

Steve Reed, the housing secretary, said yesterday that developers would qualify for fast-track planning status if their projects included 20% affordable housing, down from the current target of 35%. Of that 20%, 60% must be available at the cheapest social rents.

The plans, revealed last week by the Guardian, come after new housebuilding in London shrank to a few thousand units a year, with developers saying they were constrained by high interest rates and sluggish planning procedures.

They have caused anger among homelessness campaigners and some Labour MPs, however, who say the government is undermining its pledge to tackle homelessness.