LDN Weekly – Issue 53 – 14 November 2018
LONDON'S INS AND OUTS
In the shadow of ongoing political churn in Whitehall and Westminster over the draft EU withdrawal agreement, this week’s edition features some high-profile resignations and appointments in the spheres of politics and development.
No Images? Click here LONDON’S INS AND OUTSIn the shadow of ongoing political churn in Whitehall and Westminster over the draft EU withdrawal agreement, this week’s edition features some high-profile resignations and appointments in the spheres of politics and development. We also cover a number of major planning and development stories, from Westminster City Council’s new draft City Plan, to the revived Bishopsgate Goodsyard proposals and two new Mayoral call-ins. Aside from the above, we look at the use of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) by London’s local authorities, as well as some of the latest news from the London Assembly, the wider property development sector, and the capital’s seemingly endless transport woes. As always, we’d love to hear your feedback and do follow us on Twitter @LDNComms if you don’t already. JOHNSON WITHDRAWAL SYNDROME?Jo Johnson MP, Transport Minister and – lest we forget – Minister for London – resigned from the Cabinet on 9 November. In leaving his role, Boris Johnson’s Remain-supporting brother vocally rejected the ‘false choice between the PM’s deal and ‘no deal’ chaos’ and threw his weight behind calls for a second referendum. Johnson’s is the 14th ministerial resignation in just over a year and was announced only days before Theresa May began briefing Cabinet members on a proposed draft withdrawal agreement put together by No10 and the EU’s negotiating teams. The agreement is expected to be finalised this week. May has spent the last 48 hours fighting to secure ministers’ approval in a series of one-to-one meetings and – as of the writing of this newsletter – in a formal Cabinet Meeting, with speculation raging about more potential resignations or even a mutiny by backbenchers. In the wake of Johnson’s resignation, it was suggested by fellow Tory MP Dominic Grieve that there is a ‘sea change’ in the mood amongst backbenchers and that, aside from the more obvious possibility that many Brexiteers will rebel, more Remain-supporting ministers could resign over the PM’s proposals. Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport Jesse Norman MP has been promoted to Minister of State for Transport – though his areas of responsibility appear unchanged from those he held previously, and it remains unclear whether he will take on Johnson’s rail brief. Meanwhile Nick Hurd, MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner in north London, has been appointed Minister for London on top of his current brief as Home Office Minister for Police and Fire Services. Hurd is the 6th Minister for London since 2009, when the late Tessa Jowell held the post. WESTMINSTER CITY PLAN PUBLISHEDWestminster City Council published their new Local Plan – or City Plan, as this particular London borough brands its keystone spatial planning policy - for 2019-2040 at an event earlier this week. The Plan’s publication follows a gruelling two years of debate and revision and this final draft has clearly been informed by events over recent months. The May local elections (which saw Labour gain ground in the borough), and the negative publicity surrounding the conduct of a former planning committee chair appear to have compelled the council’s Tory leadership to reconsider its approach to development, housing and planning more generally, recognising that it has been losing support from Conservative voters. As for the contents of the Plan itself, key points include:
The Plan will now go through consultation, which will close on 21st December 2018. Meanwhile, the council’s plans for Oxford Street are also being consulted until 16 December. BISHOPSGATE RETURNSThe joint venture between Hammerson and Ballymore has unveiled significantly amended plans for the long awaited redevelopment of Bishopsgate Goodsyard in the Shoreditch High Street area. The new plans released for consultation foresee a much smaller residential component and significantly scaled down heights compared to those submitted in 2014, which were opposed by Hackney and Tower Hamlets. The original plans also faced resistance from both Boris and Sadiq’s administrations, even after a first round of amendments submitted in 2015. That scheme, featuring towers of up to 46 storeys and 1,356 homes, has now given way to a maximum height of 29 storeys and a total of 250 homes, with what appears to be more than twice as much floor space dedicated to offices, affordable workspace, and a new hotel, as well public space. The plans also incorporate a boosted proportion – if not absolute number of – affordable homes, from 15.8% to 35%, which translates into roughly 230 vs 90 homes. The new scheme is expected to be re-submitted to the GLA early next year, as a further amendment to the previous application. …AND OTHER MAYORAL CALL-INSMeanwhile, Sadiq has quietly called in two further projects for City Hall to consider as the planning authority (the tenth and eleventh during his tenure). Both are in Tory boroughs which were minded to refuse them. And in both cases, the Mayor has cited their under-delivery of new affordable homes against London Plan targets as one of the justifications for his decision.
PEOPLE MOVES
FROM THE ASSEMBLYThe past week has seen announcements by two London Assembly committees – both chaired by opposition Members – in the news. Liberal Democrat AM Caroline Pidgeon, Chair of the Transport Committee, has called Khan’s response to enquiries about Crossrail’s delays ‘most unsatisfactory’. Pidgeon suggested that Khan knew of the delays well before he informed the Assembly of them. Meanwhile, Green Party AM Sian Berry, who heads up the Housing Committee, has published a report which recommends that the Mayor oversee the creation of a social housing commissioner, or czar, to promote the views of residents, in the wake of the Grenfell disaster. The report further suggests that City Hall actively supports the Government’s proposed assessment of social landlords’ performance and ensures that the future allocation of GLA funding to social landlords is based on improvements made in terms of transparency and management. COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE LEVYRecent research by the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) and the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) has highlighted regional disparities in England with regards to Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) collecting and spending. The study found that a mere 47% of councils across England collect the funds – and while two thirds of London’s 32 boroughs levy a CIL, only one third of all 40 eligible councils in the East Midlands do so. The research also found that 69% of all CIL collected between 2014 and July 2018 in England was raised in London and the south-east. But while London boroughs collected £176 million in that period, according to the study, £132 million of this remains unspent. The GLA collected just under £500 million from the Mayor’s Community Infrastructure Levy (MCIL), all of which has been spent on Crossrail, for which the MCIL was specifically created. A new ‘MCIL2’ is set to be introduced in April 2019 following an independent examination, superseding the current MCIL (or MCIL1), with the aim of raising £4.5 billion of funding for the yet to be finally approved Crossrail 2. HERITAGE AT RISK REGISTER UPDATEHistoric England has added 242 new entries to its Heritage at Risk register, and also removed 318 entries. The register aims to help protect and manage historic sites by identifying and highlighting those most at risk of neglect and degradation. 22 of the new additions are located in London, including the tombs of architects Thomas and Philip Hardwick in Kensington, a drinking fountain in Lincoln’s Inn Fields and the former Savoy Cinema in Brent. London sites taken off the list due to successful restoration most notably include Gunnersbury Park mansion, the former home of the Rothschild family. To mark the register’s 20th anniversary, Historic England has showcased 20 of the most important sites ‘rescued’ after being listed on the register, including the iconic Granary Building in King’s Cross, which is now home to the University of the Arts London. L&Q NEWSL&Q is partnering with smaller housing associations across London to unlock small sites through the Build London Partnership programme. The initiative will support SME housing association partners with the development process, from inception to completion, to hand over completed homes at cost. When originally launched this past June, the programme focused on supporting nine Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) housing associations. But L&Q has significantly expanded the scope of the programme, which is now open to all London SME housing associations – and the scheme now has 16 partners. Jointly funded by the L&Q Foundation and the Greater London Authority (GLA), the programme aims to start on 1,000 new affordable homes across the capital by March 2022. The programme will see the L&Q Foundation invest £100m and the GLA contribute an additional £80m. Meanwhile, L&Q has created a brand new team – Strategic Partnerships - to procure land and build the new homes, focusing on small sites and schemes of up to 50 homes. GVA TO BE ACQUIRED BY AVISON YOUNGCanadian real estate firm Avison Young and private equity firm EQT have entered an agreement which will see the former acquire planning consultancy GVA for a reported £200 million The move will merge GVA with Avison Young’s existing UK operations, which include offices in London, Manchester, Coventry and the Thames Valley. The merger is expected to result in 19 offices and a 1,600-strong team across the country and is set to be finalised in the first quarter of 2019.
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