Agenda item

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee received a report of the Director of the Built Environment detailing the central government’s Housing Delivery Test results, issued on 19^th February 2019. The results showed that the 110 total housing units delivered in the City in the three years 2015/16-2017/18 is below the Government’s requirement of 262 housing units.

The Director of the Built Environment advised that this was a new test set retrospectively, and therefore the City of London Corporation could not have been aware that they did not meet requirements. However, an action plan to meet the requirements would now be produced. Officers had felt the methodology to be flawed and had responded as such to the central government’s previous consultation. Housing Delivery was set over a fifteen-year timeframe and whilst the City of London Corporation may not meet individual 3-year timeframes, results overall would improve going forward.

RESOLVED – That the Planning & Transportation Committee:

a)    Note the Government’s publication of its Housing Delivery Test results;

b)    Note that housing delivery in the City in the past three years has been below Government requirement and that consequently the City Corporation will be required to produce an Action Plan;

c)    Note that the City Corporation expects that housing delivery in the City will be above the Government requirement for the next few years; and

d)    Note that the City Corporation responded to an earlier consultation on the Test method stating that it is a flawed short-term view, and that the City Corporation will continue to engage with the Government to ensure that the Test is applied appropriately, taking full account of local circumstances including the primary role of the City as a business centre, and the commitment to housing delivery over a longer timeframe and a wider area.