Housing Delivery by Borough: Who's Building?
A data-driven ranking of London's 33 boroughs by housing delivery — against London Plan targets, strategic allocations, and historical performance
London needs 52,000 new homes a year. It is delivering approximately 35,000. The shortfall is not spread evenly — some boroughs consistently exceed their targets; others have barely started. The Planning London Datahub provides the granular application-level data needed to understand this geography of delivery.
The Target Architecture
The London Plan 2021 sets borough-level ten-year housing targets derived from SHLAA (Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment) capacity modelling and population projections. These targets are not negotiable — they represent the GLA's assessment of each borough's contribution to London's growth needs. Some boroughs have challenged these targets through the examination process; most have accepted them, while privately acknowledging that delivery at scale requires conditions — land supply, infrastructure, market demand — that are outside borough control.
The Overperformers
Eight boroughs consistently exceed their annual housing targets. Tower Hamlets, Barking & Dagenham, and Newham lead on absolute unit delivery — largely driven by large-scale regeneration programmes and the availability of development land. The common factors in overperforming boroughs: a development corporation or significant public landowner bringing sites forward, strong political will to approve housing, and proximity to infrastructure investment (Crossrail, DLR, Overground).
The Underperformers
At the other end of the scale, ten boroughs consistently deliver fewer than 50% of their annual housing targets. The constraint factors vary: Richmond, Kingston, and Bromley face strong local opposition to density, constrained PTAL scores, and significant proportions of protected green space. Kensington & Chelsea and the City of Westminster face a different constraint — extremely high land values that make affordable housing delivery particularly difficult, and a political environment in which major residential development is resisted.
The Role of Planning Applications
The PLD data allows analysis of the planning pipeline — applications submitted, consented, and refused — as a leading indicator of future delivery. Boroughs with healthy pipelines (applications as a multiple of annual target) tend to sustain delivery even when individual schemes are delayed. Boroughs with thin pipelines are vulnerable to any disruption. Currently, five boroughs have pipelines representing fewer than three years of target delivery — a supply risk that will materialise as delivery constraint within the Plan period.