黑洞社区 Live: City Hall insider admits there is uncertainty around how to apply the starter homes policy in the capital

A senior manager working under London mayor Sadiq Khan has admitted it is possible developers may have to provide starter homes in addition to meeting the capital鈥檚 new 35% target for affordable housing on projects.

Yesterday Khan published much-anticipated planning guidance on affordable housing, a week after receiving a massive boost in chancellor Philip Hammond鈥檚 Autumn Statement with a 拢3.2bn cash injection direct to City Hall for affordable housing.

Under the new planning guidance, schemes that provide 35% affordable housing will get a waiver from normal scheme viability checks - which should enable a faster passage through planning.

But it is unclear how the government鈥檚 starter homes policy will fit in with this. Earlier this year the government passed legislation mandating that starter homes - which are sold at a discount on the local market rate - should be included in all schemes, although the detail is yet to be hammered out.

More detail on starter homes is expected in a white paper on housing to be published in January.

Colin Wilson, senior manager for the Greater London Authority鈥檚 development and projects team, told the 黑洞社区 Live conference the mayor still did not know if starter homes would come under its new remit of affordable housing. He said: 鈥淥n starter homes, we don鈥檛 know. We waited till now to release the SPG just in case the government was going to do something, but they haven鈥檛.鈥�

Wilson was speaking during a panel debate on the future of London development. Fellow panellist Roger Madelin, head of British Land鈥檚 major Canada Water mixed-use development, criticised viability assessments to determine the amount of affordable housing on a scheme as 鈥渦nbelievably stupid鈥� as they attempt to predict profit once a project has been built out.

Madelin said: 鈥淚t comes from the fact that our politicians as a society have decided we don鈥檛 want to subsidise housing from general taxation and I think we should and I think until the government recognises this we鈥檙e going to be in a stand-off.鈥�

Madelin did however agree that City Hall鈥檚 new planning guidance was a step forward.

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