GLA Considers Reducing Affordable Housing Quotas to Boost London Development

London, UK – 01 Oct, 2025  – The Greater London Authority (GLA) is preparing to revise its affordable housing requirements for new developments, with proposals under discussion that could see quotas lowered from the current 35% to 20%. The move comes as London continues to face intensifying pressure to increase the supply of homes and address the capital’s chronic housing shortfall.

Mayor Sadiq Khan recently met with housing secretary Steve Reed to review the crisis. A spokesperson for Khan stated that the mayor was “doing everything in his power to deliver more homes of all tenures, taking hard decisions.” They added that the current challenges inherited from the previous government had left “national housebuilding on its knees,” with London hit particularly hard by escalating construction costs, wider economic pressures, and delays linked to the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).

Daniel Austin, chief executive and co-founder of ASK Partners, described the potential reduction as a much-needed intervention to unlock stalled delivery. “Should the mayor of London decide to reduce the quota to 20%, as widely expected, it would be a welcome move to improve the economics of development and boost the supply of much-needed affordable homes,” he said. Austin warned, however, that the housing sector in the capital was currently “completely paralysed,” with “red tape and overbearing regulation killing the viability” of schemes.

The latest GLA figures underscore the scale of the challenge. Against a government target of 88,000 homes a year for London set as part of a national goal to deliver 1.5 million homes only 3,950 homes were completed in the first half of 2025. Austin further noted that the 35% affordable housing requirement had become “unworkable,” with some developers choosing to pay penalties rather than comply with the allocation.

The prospect of revising quotas has also been welcomed by the Home Builders Federation. Steve Turner, executive director at the organisation, said that “35% feels too high for many sites to support, so by lowering it you’re going to bring more sites into scope.” He added that while more flexible affordable housing requirements would help, other systemic issues continue to slow progress. “We need a more flexible approach to be able to bring more sites forward, but affordable housing levels are not the only issue; there’s huge delays as a result of the BSR, while the London Plan has a number of requirements over and above other areas of the country.”

The outcome of GLA’s deliberations could reshape development strategy across the capital, with stakeholders closely watching whether reduced quotas can unlock stalled projects and accelerate delivery toward London’s ambitious targets.