Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is to overhaul the ‘failed’ foreign home buyer deal.
Established by his predecessor Boris Johnson two years ago, the ‘concordat’ secured the support of over 50 developers who promised to give local home buyers priority and stop the advertisement of homes to overseas buyers before they went on sale in the London market.
However, Mr Khan says that the concordat was lacking in any penalties or enforcement mechanism with just one developer ever found in breach of the rule. He said that this was “frankly embarrassing.”
The London Mayor has now requested that officials come up with options to replace the concordat with a new programme that will be both meaningful and mindful of home builders’ needs to raise finance for projects.
Mr Khan said that his predecessor Mr Johnson “left the cupboard bare” on London housing and that to fix the problem it will take a long and hard repair process.
He added that the concordat scheme was supposed to help Londoners get the first chance to bid for new properties but claims that in reality it did not stop the problem of homes in London being sold to investors from overseas.
Meanwhile, James Murray, Mr Khan’s deputy mayor for housing, said that he would review the housebuilding framework of the London Development Panel in a bid to create more opportunities for smaller builders, with the intention of publishing supplementary planning guidance on viability assessments.
Mr Khan has also turned down planning permission for a Chislehurst development due to the fact that it would encroach on green belt land.
The planning application from Flamingo Park put forward a three storey stadium for Cray Wanderers Football Club, along with 28 flats without affordable housing.
The London Mayor insisted that he will not allow construction on London’s green belt land, which he says is more important now than when it was first created.