London deputy mayor Nicky Gavron told this week鈥檚 urban taskforce launch that planners in the capital were working on rules to make housing developments more family friendly.

Gavron, who oversaw the preparation of the last London plan, said: 鈥淗igh density is not working for those under 18.鈥�

She said the Greater London Authority was commissioning research into improved space standards in terms of dwelling sizes and play areas, which would feed into the capital鈥檚 plan.

鈥淲e are providing for lots and lots of two bedroom flats and we are finding that there are a lot of families with four and three children living in them,鈥� she said.

Taskforce chair Lord Rogers said that other countries had found ways of building high density developments that made allowances for children. 鈥淭here is a need for further work in this area,鈥� he said. But Sir Peter Hall, who published a minority report outlining his opposition to the rest of the group鈥檚 recommendations on brownfield land and density (18 November, page10), backed Gavron.

High density is not working for those who are under 18

Nicky Gavron, deputy mayor

He said: 鈥淲e are not building enough homes for families.

Builders are into making money and they will create a lot of low-grade flats and we will end up with a worse housing crisis than we have at the moment.鈥�