Harrow Council's ambitious housing targets are facing significant headwinds, with development pace described as stagnant
this year, according to discussions at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The council's local plan aims to deliver 16,000 new properties over the next two decades, but the current slow pace means this target must now be achieved over 19 years.
Developers are encountering considerable difficulties with financial viability, a problem exacerbated by Harrow's lack of large development sites compared to other London boroughs. The current housing market in the capital has been described as broken,
making it difficult for new homes to be built profitably.
Councillor Paul Osborn, Leader of the Council, highlighted the issue, stating, The viability of schemes is a major hurdle, and the council is seeking increased grant funding to support the delivery of affordable housing.
He added that the housing market is really hard to build new houses and make money building new houses or to do it in a way that makes financial sense.
The primary reason cited for financial viability challenges, beyond general market conditions and site limitations, is the difficulty in making schemes financially work. The meeting documents state that the problem is viability and making schemes viable and if you can make schemes viable and that is probably increasing the level of grant that's on offer then suddenly you unlock a whole slew of schemes
. Without sufficient grant funding, the delivery of affordable housing is jeopardised, as it often means selling homes at a loss. This can lead to developers either needing to build more market-rate homes at higher prices to subsidise affordable units, or ultimately not delivering any affordable housing at all.
Harrow Council is actively seeking increased grant funding from sources including the GLA and Homes England to support affordable housing delivery. Negotiations are underway with these bodies, and discussions are also taking place with Homes England regarding the viability of the old civic centre site. The council is also looking to collaborate with the GLA to progress the Byron Quarter development.
The council is actively engaging with developers and exploring options for sites. Discussions are ongoing with Tesco regarding their development plans, although it is noted that the Tesco's development looks like it's lost its main provider of the housing part of that
. Specific details about the Tesco site or the nature of these discussions were not provided.
Further details on the council's housing strategy and the challenges faced can be found in the Public reports pack for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
