Wandsworth Council has suffered a crushing defeat in its battle to force developers to build more affordable homes, with a government-appointed planning inspector rejecting the authority’s central policy goal and ordering it back to the London-wide standard.
Inspector Graham Wyatt ruled that the council’s proposed requirement for developers to include 45% affordable housing in new developments was “not in general conformity” with the London Plan and must be reduced to 35% – the same threshold that applies across the capital.
The decision, revealed in a schedule of proposed modifications [pdf], represents a significant political embarrassment for the Labour-controlled council, whose entire Local Plan Partial Review was predicated on evidence that Wandsworth could viably demand more affordable housing than neighbouring boroughs.
What This Actually Means
Under planning rules designed to speed up approvals, developers can avoid lengthy viability assessments – where they argue a scheme can’t afford high affordable housing levels – by meeting certain thresholds. This “Fast Track Route” lets them get quicker approval if they include enough affordable homes.
Wandsworth wanted to raise this threshold from 35% to 45%, effectively making developers build an extra 10 homes out of every 100 as affordable housing to get fast-track treatment.
The inspector said no. Developers in Wandsworth will only need to hit 35% – the same level the Greater London Authority insisted upon.
Over the Local Plan period, this 10 percentage point difference could translate to hundreds fewer affordable homes delivered across the borough.
How Does This Affect You?
This decision impacts different groups differently depending on age, income and housing situation. Tap your situation below to see the detailed analysis.
Young professional renters (25-35)
Verdict: You lose
Here’s why. Tap.
If you’re renting in Putney, Battersea, or Tooting, spending half your salary on a flat-share and wondering if you’ll ever own, this decision makes your situation worse. The 10 percentage point drop means less affordable housing built overall.
The council’s own Housing Background Paper shows that 16% of people leaving Wandsworth cite inability to afford housing costs, with the sharpest declines in the 25-29 age group – a demographic projected to shrink by 3,278 people by 2038 because young people are being priced out.
What’s not helping you:
Shared Ownership: The modifications now explicitly state it’s “unaffordable to a majority of local residents” and requires £90,000+ household income. Even the inspector agreed it doesn’t work.
London Living Rent: This is more affordable (about £1,341/month for a room), but with less overall affordable housing being built, there’s less chance you’ll access it.
Co-living: Still requires developers to provide 50% affordable housing contribution, but there’s effectively no affordable co-living being built anyway.
One small positive: The plan explicitly recognises you exist. The Housing Needs Assessment notes the expected drop in your demographic because you are being priced out. It’s in writing. Policymakers will have to account for that reality.
Young Families (28-40 with Kids)
Verdict: Complicated
Here’s why. Click to learn more.
If you’re an established homeowner (possibly thanks to parental help with your deposit), less affordable housing might mean fewer large developments in your area – which could ease pressure on local schools and infrastructure. But that same reduction makes it harder for other young families to get on the ladder the way you did.
What affects you:
Less affordable housing might mean fewer large developments in your area, but if you need to upsize, there’s no help coming. Your children will face the same locked-out market you navigated.
The housing mix modifications (LP24) make minor changes to rules about what size homes get built, but nothing that dramatically helps families needing 3-4 bedroom homes.
Established Homeowners (45+)
Verdict: Status Quo
Click for explanation.
If you bought years ago and are established, this decision doesn’t directly affect you. You might appreciate less dense development in your neighbourhood, though infrastructure concerns continue.
What you should know:
Less affordable housing doesn’t mean less development – just different types. Student housing was actually made easier to approve. Your kids and grandkids face a housing market you wouldn’t recognise.
The Locked Out
Verdict: Biggest Losers
Find out why it’s not getting better
This is the group the policy fight was really about: people who earn too much for social housing (£60,000+ household income) but can’t afford market rates for a decent home.
You’re stuck in an affordability gap where:
- Social housing waiting lists have 11,000 households
- Shared Ownership requires £90,000+ and still costs 40% of income
- London Living Rent is better but there’s not enough of it
- Market rents are £2,000+/month for a one-bed
The 45% policy was designed to create more homes in that middle zone. The inspector said London-wide consistency matters more.
For context on just how severe Wandsworth’s housing affordability crisis has become, analysis earlier this year found that property ownership in the borough remains well beyond the reach of many local residents, with house prices at 16.25 times median workplace earnings – more than twice the national average.
The Three-Way Battle
The fight played out over public hearing sessions at Wandsworth Town Hall in November, with council officers arguing their viability evidence – testing dozens of theoretical development sites – proved 77% of likely developments could afford 45% affordable housing.
But the GLA challenged this head-on. In written statements to the examination, London’s planning authority warned the council’s evidence was “not robust” and that setting the threshold too high would “disincentivise applicants” from using the Fast Track Route.
The GLA’s core argument: if developers can’t meet a 45% threshold, they’ll simply submit viability assessments arguing their schemes can only afford 30%, 25%, or even less. The result? Lower overall affordable housing delivery, not higher.
Inspector Wyatt sided decisively with the GLA.
The council had made clear why it wanted to push beyond London’s standard. Christine Cook, Wandsworth’s Head of Spatial Planning, told the examination: “The residents of Wandsworth face an extremely high long-term need for genuinely affordable housing, particularly social rented housing, which is by far the most affordable and accessible tenure for the majority of those in need. As of March 2025, around 11,000 households were on one of the Council’s housing waiting lists.”
The council’s Housing Background Paper projected that “up to 23,600 new affordable homes are needed in the Borough before 2038, which would be around 90% of all new homes currently expected to be built.”
But good intentions couldn’t overcome the inspector’s conclusion that London-wide consistency mattered more than Wandsworth’s higher ambitions.
Where Wandsworth actually won
Despite the headline defeat, the inspector granted the council some victories:
Co-living schemes: Studio developments with shared kitchens must deliver 50% affordable housing – significantly tougher than the 35% general threshold. The inspector rejected developer arguments that they deserve easier treatment.
Build to Rent: The inspector strengthened the council’s language, changing “low cost rented” to explicitly require “social rented” housing for 70% of the affordable element. This is actually tougher than what Wandsworth proposed.
Shared Ownership: The plan will include remarkably direct language: “Shared Ownership is unaffordable to a majority of local residents with affordable housing needs and will therefore only be accepted if it facilitates the delivery of a higher number of social rented dwellings.”
Student housing: Made slightly easier to approve, with the test changed from “site not suitable for conventional housing” to “would not compromise site’s capacity for conventional housing.”
What Happens Next
The modifications are now subject to public consultation until 11:59pm on 14 January 2026. Anyone can submit comments, but the consultation is strictly about the Inspector’s modifications – not other aspects already debated in November.
After considering responses, Inspector Wyatt will issue his final report in early 2026. The council can then adopt the plan with his modifications, or reject it entirely (which would leave the current 35% threshold in place anyway, making rejection pointless).
Politically, the council will almost certainly adopt despite the embarrassment. The alternative – rejecting their own plan – would be worse.
How to respond to the consultation:
Email the Council’s planning policy team.
Post: Spatial Planning and Design, Wandsworth Town Hall, Wandsworth High Street, SW18 2PU
Responses must include your name and contact details. Anonymous responses won’t be accepted.
The Bigger Picture
This decision reflects a fundamental tension in London planning: should boroughs with higher property values demand more affordable housing from developers, or should there be London-wide consistency?
The GLA’s Threshold Approach has proven effective since 2021, with 84% of strategic applications now providing at least 35% affordable housing – up from 53% in 2018. The inspector concluded that consistency matters more than Wandsworth’s higher ambitions.
The rejection comes as the council faces broader challenges with its housing strategy. Analysis last month found that Wandsworth committed to 28% fewer homes than its London Plan target, despite celebrating the plan as “ambitious.” And an investigation into developer contributions revealed that the council’s insistence on high affordable housing requirements may be driving developers away from the borough entirely.
For young people trying to buy their first home in Wandsworth, this means the housing ladder – already steep – just got a bit steeper.
Next week: We’ll publish a detailed explainer on each housing type and what the modifications mean for different kinds of development across Wandsworth.
This article draws on examination documents including the Inspector’s Schedule of Proposed Main Modifications, hearing statements from Wandsworth Council (WBC001) and the Greater London Authority (REP_109_001), the Whole Plan Viability Assessment, and the Housing Background Paper (SD013). All documents are available at the examination library.
