He has also asked the Greater London Authority (GLA) to report back findings in September.

This will focus on two specific areas.

The first is industrial land, as an estimated 6,800 hectares of land is being used for industry in the capital.

Of this, 736 hectares, the equivalent of approximately 900 football pitches, could potentially be turned into housing developments, but are stuck in the planning system, and developers have said the current policy is too restrictive.

Secondly, Gove has pointed out opportunity areas.

These are 47 areas across London that the Mayor and the GLA have identified as each typically having the potential to deliver at least 2,500 new homes or 5,000 new jobs (or a combination of the two), but too many have made almost no progress and others appear to have plateaued.

The government has asked the Mayor to ensure the list of areas is sufficiently targeted, consider how other policies in the plan that constrain capacity or delivery might be adjusted, and asked if there is a role for a single planning framework to accelerate housing.

A new ‘super-squad’ of planners, brought in by government, will use their expertise to work across London to speed up planning decisions.

The specialist team will work on complex cases that for too long have been held up in the planning system.

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Newham and Greenwich have been prioritised with £500,000 to help with planning applications and unlock over 7,000 homes.   

Gove commented: “Londoners are being let down by the Mayor’s chronic under delivery of new homes in the capital.

“We have already taken comprehensive action to reverse this trend — investing billions of pounds to build affordable homes and unlocking brownfield developments.

“However, that alone will not build the homes we need, which is why I am now directing the Mayor to review aspects of the London Plan and announcing specialist support on planning to help unlock thousands of homes.   

“I look forward to continuing to work with the GLA, councils and the sector so we can get spades in the ground and deliver the homes the capital needs.” 

Minister for London, Greg Hands, added: “It is unacceptable that Londoners don’t have access to the homes they need due to persistent under-delivery of home building, which is why we’re directing the Mayor to review London Plan policies.

"This action comes on top of millions of pounds in government investment to regenerate estates, unlock major brownfield sites, and build thousands of new homes.

“But government cannot act in isolation — we need the GLA to step up and work with us, so we can provide affordable housing for all.”