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Khan said his position on the green belt has changed because \u201cbold solutions\u201d are required to fix London\u2019s housing crisis.<\/p>\n
To meet demand, London needs 88,000 new homes a year over the next decade: close to a million homes. The capital has never built this number of homes before, and only ever built at anything close to this rate when there was a housing boom across the country in the 1930s.<\/p>\n
Khan said the current approach to only build on brownfield land will never be enough to meet the scale of the challenge.<\/p>\n
Releasing some carefully chosen areas of green belt for development could unlock hundreds of thousands of new homes for Londoners.<\/p>\n
The right transport and infrastructure will play a pivotal role in the new approach, enabling higher density developments near public transport connections.<\/p>\n
Khan said: \u201cWe clearly face an extraordinary challenge. As Mayor<\/span>, I\u2019m determined to give it everything we\u2019ve got \u2013 with a radical step-change in our approach.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll be working with councils and others to secure as many new homes as we can on brownfield sites, both large and small, but we have to be honest with Londoners that this alone will not be enough to meet our needs.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m announcing that City Hall\u2019s new position will be to actively explore the release of parts of London\u2019s green belt for development.<\/p>\n \u201cThe perception many people have is that the green belt is all beautiful countryside, green and pleasant land, rich with wildlife. The reality is very different. The green belt can often be low-quality land, poorly maintained and rarely enjoyed by Londoners. Only around 13 per cent is made up of parks and areas that the public can access.<\/p>\n \u201cSo given the quality of parts of the London\u2019s green belt and the extent of the housing crisis, I believe the status quo is wrong, out-of-date and simply unsustainable. Development on carefully chosen parts of the green belt \u2013 done in the right way \u2013 would allow us to unlock hundreds of thousands of good quality new homes for Londoners. This would not only go a long way to ending the housing crisis but provide a huge boost to our economy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n