Next Mayor of London 'should consider building on green belt'

The next mayor of London should consider building on the green belt to address London’s housing crisis, a Tory think tank said today.

The Centre for Policy Studies said rival candidates Zac Goldsmith and Sadiq Khan, who have both insisted they would protect the green belt, should review the rules.

Almost a quarter of land within London’s boundaries is classified as green belt and about 60 per cent of this is within 2km of a rail or Tube station.

The think tank suggested that whoever took over from Boris Johnson would struggle to build the 50,000 new homes needed annually in the capital.

Its report, Who Will Fix London’s Housing Crisis?, said the priority should be developing brownfield sites but added that this alone was unlikely to solve the housing problem.

The report singled out the Labour candidate’s 50 per cent affordable housing target for criticism, saying it would be “ineffective and counterproductive” as it could reduce the number of new homes built.

It also said it was “regrettable” that Mr Khan’s fare-freeze proposal could impact on the money available for investing in the transport network, as it could slow the pace of housebuilding.

The report claimed the Labour MP’s rent cap idea would prevent the growth of good quality rental homes in London, and could increase rents.

Report author Daniel Mahoney said: “Increasing the supply of homes in London can be achieved by setting reasonable affordable housing targets, not setting rent caps, freeing up public sector land, expanding London’s transport system, reviewing the green belt across London boroughs and promoting simplified planning zones.”