In a significant move to tackle the housing crisis, Wandsworth Council is revising its Local Plan to demand 50% affordable housing in new developments – with most designated for social rent. We discuss this ambitious policy shift with Aydin Dikerdem, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, who is leading the charge.
When Wandsworth Labour campaigned in the 2022 local elections, housing was their top priority. “Our first act will be to build 1,000 new council homes” came as the first promise, immediately before their will to “set an ambitious target of 50% affordable housing on all new developments“, along with a commitment to campaign for rent controls.
In a wide-ranging discussion with Aydin, we explored not only the proposed changes to Wandsworth’s Local Plan but also broader issues of housing affordability, planning regulations, and rent control.
Amending the Local Plan, heritage of the Tories
The current Local Plan, though only adopted in 2023, was largely shaped by the previous Conservative administration, with most of its drafting and consultation taking place before Labour’s victory in the April 2022 local elections.
While the Wandsworth Local Plan was adopted only in 2023, in reality it was mainly drafted and consulted before the local election in April 2022, under the supervision of the Conservative administration.
Despite London’s worsening housing crisis, the new Wandsworth Local Plan actually seem to set new goals that were even below the previous targets. While the Local Plan initially required just 33% affordable housing, later increased to 35%. And at the same time, the tenure split initially of 60% social rent and 40% intermediate was reduced to 50/50.
The reality was even starker. With little commitment to enforcement, actual delivery of affordable housing averaged just 25% between 2015 and 2020. The prevailing policy approach favoured development at any cost, with senior planners arguing that higher targets would deter developers. This “better than nothing” strategy effectively sacrificed genuine affordability goals. Developers, facing minimal pressure to meet even these reduced targets, consistently fell short of the requirements.
- Read our previous article: Wandsworth is facing a growing demand for social housing and is seeking solutions
In response to these shortcomings, the new Labour administration has proposed more ambitious policies to boost social housing provision and strengthen enforcement of affordable housing requirements. Following through on their campaign promises, the Council is now working to amend existing policies. While the proposed changes update several areas for consistency and clarity, the most significant reforms are contained in Policy LP23 on Affordable Housing. These changes focus on three key areas:
- Make mandatory for new housing developments in the borough to include a minimum of 50% affordable homes on-site.
- Get a higher percentage of new affordable homes to be genuinely affordable, with a preference for a 70/30 split in favour of social rent.
- A contribution of £50,000 per unit will be requested on smaller development sites that currently fall below the threshold of 10 or more homes (this is a flat amount applied borough wide to make the process simpler).
Making housing more affordable has become Aydin’s primary mission. He first focused on expanding Council housing stock. Where the previous Conservative administration had planned to build 1,000 homes on the remaining council-owned land – with only 442 designated as council rentals and the rest split between market-rate sales and shared ownership – Aydin’s team made a decisive change. Under Labour’s leadership, all 1,000 homes were redesignated for council rental.
In a further significant shift, the Council announced in late 2022 that it would end the practice of selling off Council properties. This reversed the previous administration’s policy of selling larger properties to fund the purchase of smaller units – a strategy that had often meant replacing family houses with flats.
Islington borough was the inspiration
While this programme is underway, they also knew that it is a long way insufficient to respond to the demand for social housing and affordability in the borough.
“Islington was the inspiration for Labour’s proposal“, Aydin told us. This central London borough was indeed a precursor in implementing a stringent affordable housing policy, and its effectiveness has been notable. Back in February 2011, Islington adopted a Core Strategy mandating 50% affordable housing in new developments – far exceeding the 30-35% typical of other boroughs. The Islington Local Plan Inspectors Report from July 2023 confirms that their policy requires a tenure split of 70% social rented housing and 30% intermediate housing for affordable housing provision.
Aydin explained that while the new Labour administration in Wandsworth was committed to amend the Local Plan right at the beginning (which they announced more than a year ago), they also wanted to make sure that it was supported by clear local evidence and that there was enough data showing that there is a clear need in the borough. This careful groundwork explains why the proposed changes are only now going to consultation, more than a year after their initial announcement.
A major incentive for property developers comes from following the Fast Track Route for their proposals when they meet the new affordable housing criteria. It means that they can progress their applications without submitting detailed viability information, speeding up the planning process (similar to the GLA approach, which fast-tracks developments providing 35% affordable housing on site at the moment).
- Wandsworth Council is consulting on the changes here: wandsworth.gov.uk/LocalPlanReview
A team of viability officers to challenge developers
By offering this expedited process, councils aim to encourage developers to provide more affordable housing while streamlining the planning approval process for qualifying projects. However, this argument can be debated as viability reports are also used by developers to justify their lower level of affordable provided. An article published by the Guardian 9 years ago explained how developers use viability assessments to minimise affordable housing. The article explained:
“The viability assessment therefore became a way of proving that the affordable housing targets were indeed “reasonable”, while still allowing the developer to make a decent profit. […] It’s not about best use of public money, it’s about developers using every technique and appraisal in their power to avoid compliance with planning policy.”
This widespread manipulation led Steve Cowan, the leader of Hammersmith and Fulham since 2014, to famously remark:
“These assessments are not worth the paper they’re written on, I often just put them in the bin.”
In response to these challenges, Wandsworth Council has recently decided to bring viability assessments in-house, hiring a dedicated team of viability officers to scrutinise developers’ claims. According to Aydin Dikerdem, this approach has already yielded positive results. In several planning applications, council officers have successfully challenged developers, resulting in increased affordable housing provisions in some cases.
We have to meet the Local Plan
With the level of social housing that is requested, developers may attempt to use their affordable provision as leverage, even if their plans contravene established planning policies.
A notable case is the Glassmill proposal, which features a 28-storey tower offering 50% social housing. While this provision exceeds Wandsworth’s emerging affordable housing targets, it conflicts with the borough’s planning policies regarding height and massing. According to the Local Plan, buildings on the site of Battersea Bridge Road must not exceed six storeys (maximum height of 18 metres). Even within the adjacent Tall Building zone, the maximum permitted height is limited to 7–12 storeys. However, the developers have indicated that they are unconcerned about these restrictions, as they intend to seek approval from the Mayor of London (who, they anticipate, will give less weight to the local context and more importance to fulfilling his own target of affordable provision).
Although details regarding the affordable housing provision are not yet available, another example is the recent scoping opinion submitted by developers, proposing a 34-storey tower near the heliport. This proposal blatantly disregards the Local Plan’s stipulated height limit of 10 storeys for the area.
- Read our article: Gigantic tower proposed in front of Battersea heliport
“There is a debate between the importance of social housing and the necessity of being compliant with the planning policies” explained Aydin. “We have to meet the Local Plan. However, this (meaning the local plan we inherited) was politically influenced, meaning the decision is not clear-cut.”
However, when pressed for a more specific response, Aydin conceded:
“We want people to play by the rules.” He added that “is important to have a strong Local Plan.”
He remains mindful of the injustice faced by his generation, who struggle to find housing they can afford in London. At the same time, he acknowledges that density does not necessarily have to be tackled through high-rise towers, citing Paris as a very dense city with mostly 6-7 storey buildings.
- Read ou article: Haussmann’s Paris as a model for architecture?
The campaign to implement rent control
In addition to building Council homes and revising the Local Plan, another pledge from 2022 was Wandsworth Labour’s commitment to introducing rent control.
“Moving to rent control could really make a difference“, said Aydin. However, he knows that the landlord lobby is very powerful and totally opposed to the measure. England is currently a near free zone where regulations are nearly non-existent and owners can do as they wish.
Landlords face no cap on rent increases and can raise the rent as they choose at the end of each tenancy. It is also still possible for landlords in the UK to evict tenants without cause using Section 21 notices, also known as “no-fault evictions”. However, this is set to change in the near future. The UK government has introduced the Renters’ Rights Bill, which aims to abolish the possibility to get rid of tenants without having to provide a valid reason (such as selling, rent arrears or breach of tenancy agreement). The bill has completed its passage through the House of Commons and is expected to become law by summer 2025.
Unlike Labour in Wandsworth, the government does not seem to support rent control. However, the Renters’ Rights Bill introduces some limitations on rent increases. First of all, it will restrict landlords to raising rents only once per year, with a formal written notice required at least two months in advance. Secondly, and most importantly, it plans to grant First-tier Tribunals the authority to resolve disputes when tenants believe their rent is too high. These tribunals will have the power to determine whether the proposed rent is in line with market rates.
While this is still far from the rent control systems tenants benefit from in France, where a maximum monthly charge per square metre is set for various city zones (and tenants can even request a retroactive refund if they have paid more than the amount indicated), Aydin believes this is a step in the right direction. Local councils will be able to assist tenants in presenting their cases before the tribunal. He also reaffirmed that Wandsworth will continue to lobby in favour of rent control, highlighting that the Mayor of London is also in support of such measures.
Double council tax for second homes
Before closing the discussion (Aydin is a very busy man!), he took the opportunity to ask: “Have you seen the announcement about double Council tax on empty accommodation and second homes?”
From April 2025, London councils will implement new rules that will double council tax for owners of second homes and properties left empty for over a year.
This change will affect several boroughs, including Wandsworth and Westminster, which traditionally have some of the lowest Council tax rates in England.
The policy aims to tackle London’s housing crisis, where long-term vacant properties have increased by 73% since 2017, despite record-high rents. For instance, in Wandsworth, a Band D second home will incur around £1,500 in annual Council tax. However, certain categories, such as armed services members or caretakers who need second homes for work, will be exempt, while the rules will apply to those leaving properties vacant for convenience.
- Wandsworth Council is consulting on the changes to the local plan here: wandsworth.gov.uk/LocalPlanReview
The Council does not want to get only responses from property developers. They also want to have local residents and community groups participate and this is the opportunity to shape the housing policy for the area.
