London Borough of Islington & Ors v The Mayor of London
2014
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
UK
CORAM
- THE HONOURABLE MRS JUSTICE LANG DBE
Areas of Law
- Administrative Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
2014
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
UK
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The Claimants, local planning authorities in London, challenged the Mayor of London's REMA to the London Plan, arguing it unlawfully precluded rent caps for affordable rented housing and was inconsistent with the NPPF. They provided evidence that high rents would be unaffordable for low-income families. The Mayor contended the policy was necessary to ensure new affordable housing delivery. The court found the Mayor had acted within statutory powers and made rational planning judgments, aligned with national policies, thus dismissing the claim.
Judgment
MRS JUSTICE LANG:
The Claimants apply to quash the decision of the Defendant, the Mayor of London, to publish certain Revised Early Minor Alterations (“REMA”) to the London Plan on 11 th October 2013, under section 113(3) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (“PCPA 2004”), on the grounds that the Defendant exceeded his powers.
Under sections 41 and 334 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (“GLAA 1999”), the Defendant is required to prepare and publish a London “spatial development strategy” for matters which are of strategic importance to London. This document is known colloquially as the ‘London Plan’. The Defendant is under a duty to keep the plan under review (section 340), and he may at any time prepare and publish alterations (section 341(1)). The current London Plan was published by the Defendant in 2011. The REMA are intended to update the plan, particularly in regard to the National Planning Policy Framework (“NPPF”) introduced in 2012.
The Claimants’ Grounds
The Claimants are local planning authorities in London who consider that the provisions in paragraphs 3.63 and 3.68 of the REMA unlawfully preclude them from imposing Borough-wide caps on rent for affordable rented housing.
Paragraphs 3.63 and 3.68 provide:
“3.63 In view of the particular priority the Mayor gives to provision of new affordable homes to meet London’s very pressing need, boroughs should give particular weight to the criteria set by national government for the allocation of public resources for affordable housing in setting local plan targets (Policy 3.11) or negotiating provision in private housing or mixed-use developments (Policy 3.12) and should avoid imposing any requirements (such as borough-level caps on rent levels for affordable rented housing) that might restrict the numbers of new affordable homes.”
“3.68 Boroughs should enable the range of affordable rents to be applied and should not set rent targets for affordable rented housing in their local development frameworks as this is likely to impede the maximisation of affordable housing provision Londonwide. The Mayor may provide details of where variations to affordable rent can apply in his London Housing Strategy and other relevant documents.”
The Claimants have commissioned evidence which shows that, if affordable rents are set at or close to 80% of market rent, the properties will not be affordable for a large proportion of the eligible households, who have low incomes or are on ben