At least 42,000 homes — including a minimum of 12,000 affordable units — are set to be lost from London's residential development pipeline, according to new research from property consultancy Savills.
The analysis identifies 77 sites totalling almost 30,000 homes that are unlikely to be delivered despite holding residential planning consent. Of these, 14% will be redeveloped for alternative non-residential uses, while the majority of landowners intend to retain existing use for the foreseeable future.
A further 25 pre-planning sites allocated for residential use in adopted local plans are also no longer expected to come forward, representing an additional 12,000 homes. Savills notes there could anecdotally be as many as 10,000 further homes at risk.
The losses are concentrated in outer London boroughs, where residential values are lower and viability most stretched. Savills says the trend has been building for several years but has accelerated markedly over the past 18 months.
