Political Pigeon - What will 2016 bring?

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Happy New Year from Remarkable Engagement!

2015 shows that a year is a very long time in politics. Indeed, it’s hard to believe that this time last year, Labour members felt they could be just months from victory – or at least locking David Cameron out of Downing Street. Columnists, led by pollsters, collectively bought into the idea of a new coalition government between Labour and the SNP. A year on, however, and the Labour Party is under a very different leadership - and has a very different membership. Dubbed the joke candidate and Trotskyite no-hoper, Jeremy Corbyn’s meteoric victory hit Westminster like a tonne of bricks. The bookies put him on distant odds of 100/1, then he won.

David Cameron’s Conservatives not only achieved an outright majority - their first in more than 20 years - but to add insult to injury, they also picked up seats in parts of the country that had long been held by Labour. The Welsh seat of Gower, for instance, had last been represented by a Tory in 1905. Superficially, their victory in May represented the resurgence of one party government, but they only won a slim majority of MPs that could be easily undone. All it will take is another string of 1990s-style ‘Back to Basics’ scandals, an unexpected economic downturn or regicide over Europe and it could all go horribly wrong for the PM. Doom and gloom aside, the Conservatives are still riding high with a weighty ten per cent lead, and for the first time, it is conceivable that the Tories could hold onto the London mayoralty for the third consecutive time with their candidate, Zac Goldsmith.

If 2015 is anything to go by, this year looks to be just as volatile, chaotic and, ultimately, unpredictable as the last. Will the Conservatives retain the London mayoralty? Will the EU referendum date be announced? Will Jeremy Corbyn survive as Labour leader? Will a third runway be built at Heathrow? Will a Cabinet position be handed to Boris Johnson? Given the exicting weeks and months ahead, Remarkable Engagement’s ‘Political Pigeon’ will now be sent out every fortnight, keeping you up to date with the latest political, housing and planning news from the capital, with industry comment and analysis.

If you would like to discuss anything in relation to the Mayoral and GLA elections and the impact on your business, please contact Tobin Byers on tobin.byers@remarkablegroup.co.uk or 020 3697 7637.

Goldsmith victory as PM pledges to protect London’s affordable homes

National Planning Policy: consultation on proposed changes

We reported in last month’s Political Pigeon that it appeared the Zac Goldsmith campaign and the Government could be coordinating announcements, with the Tory candidate publicly campaigning on issues which the Government then miraculously agree to. If you missed it, click here.

In it, we argued that the next test of this close-knit relationship will be Goldsmith’s push to secure a guarantee from the Government that at least two low-cost homes are built in London for every council house sold. We predicted that the Government would concede and spin it as a massive Goldsmith victory – and we were right.

Yesterday (4th January), the Prime Minister announced that he will amend his flagship Housing & Planning Bill to guarantee two affordable homes are built in London for each council house sold off. What a surprise!

You can read more about the Prime Minister's plans here.

The Government is inviting views on some specific changes to National Planning Policy in the following areas:

broadening the definition of affordable housing, to expand the range of low cost housing opportunities for those aspiring to own their new home
increasing residential density around commuter hubs, to make more efficient use of land in suitable locations
supporting sustainable new settlements, development on brownfield land and small sites, and delivery of housing allocated in plans
Supporting delivery of starter homes

You can respond online here.

Contact Tobin Byers by email or 020 3697 7637 if you would like to discuss how our experienced team at Remarkable Engagement can help you formulate formal consultation responses.

PM: London site to be directly commissioned for housing development

Labour's Khan fails in bid to ring-fence Right to Buy cash for future housing

The Government announced yesterday (4th January) that it would directly commission the building of up to 13,000 homes on public land. Of the five pilot schemes across the south of England, one will be a brownfield plot at Old Oak Common, north west London.

Smaller developers will be able to buy sites in England with planning permission in place - with 40 per cent of the new-builds to be so-called ‘starter homes’ aimed at first-time buyers. Direct commissioning allows the Government to assume responsibility for developing land, instead of large building firms.

Communities Secretary Greg Clark told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the Government was "pulling out all the stops to get the country building". He added that the eight biggest building firms accounted for 50 per cent of the house-building market, and there was a need to involve smaller and medium-sized companies.

In December 2014 former Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander announced a pilot plan for the Government to "directly commission, build and even sell homes" at a former RAF base in Northstowe, Cambridgeshire.

Opponents say the 13,000 homes represented a 'tiny proportion' of the million the government wants built by 2020.

Labour's mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan has failed in an attempt to have money made by housing associations from Right to Buy sales ring-fenced for new affordable homes.

He put forward an amendment to the Housing & Planning Bill discussed in the House of Commons on 1st December, but saw it rejected.

According to Khan, housing associations in Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham stand to make nearly £40 million a year, and he wants to see that money reinvested in housing in the area.

He said: “Without the guarantees I’m proposing, money will flood out of the capital, our city will be hollowed out, the housing crisis will get worse and it’s Londoners who will suffer."

Khan's amendment required:

If a housing association sells a home for social rent, it must be replaced with another home for social rent in the same borough.
All the money raised from housing association Right-to-Buy sales in London will stay in the Capital and be re-invested in affordable housing for Londoners.

Khan's failure in securing Government support is in stark contrast to his Conservative rival, Zac Goldsmith, whose own amendment was endorsed by the Prime Minister - further strengthening Goldsmith's key campaign line that only a Tory Mayor can work with a Tory government for London.

London Mayoral Watch

Top 10 reads!

Liberal Democrat Caroline Pidgeon last month called for the terms of West Ham United's rental of the Olympic Stadium to be made public. She argued that "no mayoral body should be hiding a deal over the use of a largely taxpayer-funded stadium" and that "the full publication of this information will allow the public to find out if value for money has been reached for taxpayers.” The deal ultimately means the taxpayer will be paying for a number of facilities and services to be used by the the club. Read more here.

Green candidate Sian Berry has pledged to scrap TfL's fare zones. Berry argued that “it’s not fair that people in outer London pay so much more to get to work,” and has pledged to merge some zones before harmonising fares across the capital by 2025 through a series of phased freezes and cuts. Read more here.

Labour's Sadiq Khan promised that if elected, he would fund his four-year TfL fare freeze by scrapping current Mayor Boris Johnson's "expensive vanity projects." The Labour hopeful also said he would raise additional funds by halving the £383 million a year spent by TfL on agency staff and consultants, cutting down on £61 million a year fare evasion, and merging engineering on the Tube and Overground. Read more here.

Zac Goldsmith, the Conservative candidate, was criticised for never having a real job by Heathrow Airport's chairman, Sir Nigel Rudd. The blistering attack comes as Prime Minister David Cameron agreed to further postpone his decision on Heathrow's expansion until after the Mayoral election. Read more here.