Taylor Wimpey and Berkeley pull back from new London housing over planning costs

For anyone counting on London supply, Berkeley's land book matters more than anything its executives said this week. The company is committed to finishing its existing sites in the capital but has not bought new land there for more than four years, City AM understands ^[9]. Completions keep coming in the near term, and the pipeline behind them empties ^[9]. Getting a London site through planning can take a decade: the refused Peckham site had been earmarked for development since 2014 ^[4].

Berkeley's new London target is roughly 3,000 homes a year below the old one, a cut of half ^[17]. Against that target, the 867 homes refused at Peckham ^[2] equal about 29% of a year's London delivery for the group ^[18]. Berkeley says the scheme would also have created 1,000 jobs and 60 apprenticeships, and more than £13m a year in extra spending in the area ^[3].

A skeptic would say a builder talks London down when it wants faster answers from ministers. Berkeley has written to the housing ministry asking why its Kingston scheme was blocked and when it can go ahead, City AM understands ^[8]. The answer is that the four-year halt on land buying ^[9] and the smaller workforce ^[11] are steps Berkeley has already taken, and they shrink its own London business ^[10]. Rob Perrins, the executive chair, said: "This 10-year planning nightmare demonstrates the gulf between positive planning policies and what actually happens when you try to build homes in London. All the policies support housing, but the decisions block it time and time again." ^[6] He said heritage objections are being used as "a blocker" by planning inspectors and local authorities ^[5].

Taylor Wimpey's case goes beyond planning objections. Asked on The Times's The Business podcast whether the company would commit to further London projects, chief executive Jennie Daly said: "No. Baseline viability is, I think, fundamentally broken in London." ^[12] She also said: "The reward for undertaking what is a very high-risk form of development in London has just evaporated." ^[13] She cited the requirement for every high-rise block over 18 metres to have a second staircase ^[14]. She said such barriers are compounded by "affordability challenges" that have suppressed demand ^[15]. I think faster planning decisions would answer only part of her account, since the staircase rule and weak demand would remain.

Perrins said: "Housing delivery in London is at a record low." ^[19] Recent data show delivery lagging far behind the government's 1.5m-homes goal ^[20]. City AM's report covers two companies and does not say whether other London builders are making the same call. On the evidence it does give, plans that run to 2029 face fewer London homes from these two firms once Berkeley's current sites are complete ^[9][10].