Published by the Mayor of London’s office, the plan aims to deliver 558,000 homes by 2027 with an average of 55,800 built a year.

However, the HBF has argued this is still not enough with 85,000 net new dwellings a year required.

The draft plan has called for brownfield land to be prioritised but, acknowledging this land alone will not supply all of London’s homes, has called for limited areas of the green belt to be used as well.

The draft London Plan also proposes a more flexible approach to affordable housing thresholds.

Although commitment to a 50% affordable housing target remains, the ambition in the medium term is to return to a 35% threshold across London as market conditions improve.

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In the meantime, while market conditions remain difficult, the draft plan sets location-specific targets of 35%, 25% and 20% depending on likely sales values in each borough.

“While the Mayor’s focus on improving the viability of new housing is encouraging, we are yet to see action from policymakers of the scale and urgency needed to address this [housing] crisis,” said James Stevens, director cities at the HBF.

“Housing starts in London are at alarmingly-low levels and have been for some time.

“An urgent overhaul of housing policy is now critical to supporting the housing needs of all Londoners — particularly the capital’s first-time buyers who face the biggest barriers to home ownership in the country.

“We look forward to engaging constructively through the consultation to ensure the Mayor’s positive intentions translate into accelerated delivery on the ground.”