London faces a significant housing crisis that threatens both its social sustainability and its long-term economic stability. Last year (2014-15), our HEIF5 project, Addressing the Supply Crisis focused on the implications of the national election debate for London; identified barriers to supply specific to the capital and pointed to where change was needed. In doing so, we built immensely positive relationships with major stakeholders providing both a careful analytic base and an independent environment where they could come together to discuss ways forward.
Following on from that, this year's (2015-16) HEIF5 project will focus on the run up to the mayoral election examining strategies and instruments to accelerate the development of new housing and specifically clarifying how the new mayor could use his/her powers in the new policy context to generate a step-change in housing delivery. Throughout this year LSE London has explored these issues through five major themes:
Each theme addresses how the new London Mayor can help overcome the major barriers to improving London’s housing crisis through workshops, site-visits, and stakeholder focus groups. Multimedia outputs brought bring the project to life, with thought-provoking research expressed through blog posts, short films and an interactive map.
This project recognises the importance of the housing issue for the Mayoral election and the role of the GLA in making that a success. All potential candidates agree that a step change in housing delivery is needed but there is very little agreement on the details of how to ensure it happens. The wide range of national housing and planning policy changes that have been introduced since the national election, which impact on what is achievable, further complicates matters.
By engaging key groups of stakeholders and focusing on practical ways of overcoming the main barriers to accelerating supply, we hope to influence and improve the debate leading up to the mayoral election and to provide a blueprint for the months following the election.
PUBLICATIONS
Reports and Articles
10 October 2016
HEIF 5 Report: Market VS Planning: is Deregulation the answer?
23 June 2016
HEIF 5 Report: Accelerating housing production in London, preliminary report
10 May 2016
Scanlon, K. Whitehead, C.M.E., & Williams, Peter. Taking stock: Understanding the effects of recent policy measures on the private rented sector and Buy-to-Let.
23 March 2016
Scanlon, K., Whitehead, C.M.E., & Edge, A. with Banerjee, P. The effect of forthcoming housing policy changes on social-tenant employment and the London economy, Final report for LB Camden.
7 March 2016
Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). Christine Whitehead was one of the Commissioners. Building a new deal for London: Final report of the London Housing Commission.
19 February 2016
Whitehead, C.M.E. [Advisory group member] 'Home Improvements'. New Centre for Social Justice (CSJ).
February 2016
Scanlon, K. ‘Is going Deutsch worth it?’ View, an independent social affairs magazine, Issue 35.
November 2015
McDonald, N. & Whitehead C.M.E. New estimates of housing requirements in England, 2012 to 2037. Town & Country Planning Tomorrow Series Paper 17.
12 October 2015
Holman, N., Fernández-Arrigoitia, M., Scanlon, K., & Whitehead, C.M.E. Housing in London: Addressing the Supply Crisis (Final Report & Executive Summary).
Multi-media
Interactive Media
Interactive Map: Visualising London's Housing Supply Crisis. 22 May 2015.
Videos
Enforcing the unenforceable: The hard work of two enforcement officers in London. 10 October 2016.
Discussing planning deregulation in London: Office conversions and short-term lettings. 10 October 2016.
Creating communities in London's new villages. 22 July 2016.
PLACE making: A modular approach to London’s housing shortage. 21 July 2016.
The Kipling Estate: Genuinely affordable housing in central London. 28 June 2016.
Blogs
10 October 2016
Market VS Planning: is Deregulation the answer? HEIF 5 blog.
22 July 2016
. HEIF 5 blog.
22 June 2016
Accelerating Housing Production in London: Making national housing policy work in the capital. HEIF 5 blog.
31 May 2016
Building relationships with central and local government, blog from our roundtable event
18 May 2016
Housing strategies for the new mayor, seminar blog
3 May 2016
‘Next London Mayor should work with Wider South East to rethink the green belt’, says Ian Gordon in Centre for Cities blog.
3 May 2016
‘Will the new London Mayor have the powers necessary to tackle the housing crisis?’ Christine Whitehead comments for Centre for Cities.
9 March 2016
‘A case for greater planning certainty’ Blog report.
24 February 2016
Innovative construction methods. Blog report.
10 February 2016
Housing zones as new housing acceleration tools. Blog report.
28 January 2016
Mayoral hustings debate summary: ‘Why I should be Mayor of London Tomorrow’. Blog report.
20 January 2016
Roundtable on Planning and the Role of SME Builders. Blog report.
23 November 2015
HEIF5 Accelerating Housing Production in London Roundtable 1: Setting the Priorities. Blog report.
In the news
5 May 2016
Marcellin, F. [Melissa Fernández comments on London’s housing crisis’s effect on younger generations] The future of urban housing. Design & Build Review Magazine. Issue 27.
2 May 2016
Meyerm H. [Kath Scanlon comments on implementing rent control in the UK.] Would a rent cap work for tenants facing £1,000-a-month-rises? The Guardian.
14 November 2015
Christie, J. [Kath Scanlon discusses UK Buy-to-Let in relation to EU countries]. Buy-to-let is taxed more in Britain than Germany, France or US - before the new tax. The Telegraph.
4 November 2015
Evans, J. [Christine Whitehead’s coauthored report for Town and Country Planning Association.] England needs to build 1.5 million homes in next five years.
28 August 2015
Clapperton, G. [Melissa Fernández discusses alternative housing in Croydon]. Time for change. New Statesman.
EVENTS
21 July 2016
Seminar: Alternative housing development in London: Practices and possibilities
14 July 2016
Short film festival: Visualising London's Housing Crisis: Problems and Solutions
6-8 July 2016
Conference: Prof Christine Whitehead was one of the Keynote Speakers at the 2016 AREUEA conference
5 July 2016
Conference: Prof Christine Whitehead provides an economic overview at The Residential Funding Conference
23 June 2016
HEIF 5 Final Conference: Opportunities to Accelerate Housing Production in London. Event agenda.
12-13 May 2016
‘Wohnen für alle?! Wissenschaftliche Perspektiven auf Architektur, Planung und Politik' (Housing for all?! Scientific perspectives on architecture, planning and politics)’. Event Programme.
10 May 2016
‘Housing Strategies for the New Mayor’. Event agenda.
10 May 2016
Taking stock: Understanding the effects of recent policy measures on the private rented sector and Buy-to-Let, report launch.
14 April 2016
‘Providing cheap housing in expensive cities: is social housing the answer?’ Kath Scanlon at the ETH Forum Wohnungsbau 2016.
9 March 2016
‘A greater case for certainty’. Event agenda.
24 February 2016
‘Innovative construction methods’. Event agenda.
10 February 2016
‘Housing zones as new housing acceleration tools’. Event agenda.
28 January 2016
‘Mayoral hustings debate: ‘Why I should be Mayor of London Tomorrow’.
20 January 2016
‘Roundtable on Planning and the Role of SME Builders’. Event agenda.
15 December 2015
GLA Intelligence Seminar: House prices in London. Kath Scanlon was a panelist.
23 November 2015
‘HEIF5 Accelerating Housing Production in London Roundtable 1: Setting the Priorities’. Event agenda.
1 December 2015
‘The PRS: Evolution in London and international perspective’. Kath Scanlon presented evidence to the Housing Select Committee of the London Borough of Lewisham about private renting in London and Germany.
November 2015
‘The future of the private rented sector’ Christine Whitehead gave the keynote address at the report launch of Private Renters’ Rights: Safe and stable homes in Kensington and Chelsea report. Melissa Fernàndez and Christine Whitehead worked in the advisory group.
November 2015
‘Is there a problem with the current housing market?’ Christine Whitehead discusses the social implications of a changing housing market at the ESRC Festival of Social Science: Housing Event at the Geffrye Museum of the Home.
November 2015
‘Barriers to accelerating housing delivery’ Christine Whitehead presents at the New Ideas for Housing: Tools for accelerating delivery, New Architecture London.
21 October 2015
‘Housing in London: the current state of play’, Christine Whitehead presents at the Policy Forum for London.
13 October 2015
‘The Role of Social Housing in Europe’, Christine Whitehead presents at Uppsala University.
12 October 2015
Housing in London - Final Roundtable and Report Launch.