Housebuilders in London are likely to be allowed to build one-person microflats, the Greater London Authority told a public inquiry into the London Plan this week.

Tory mayor Boris Johnson is using the London Plan to introduce space standards for private homes in the capital, and had said the smallest homes allowed would be 51m2 flats with one bedroom for two people.

However, Greater London Authority officials, speaking at the inquiry, said the mayor was now willing to allow a one-person one-bedroom design of 37m2 in size.

Les West, director of planning consultant Barton Willmore, which has been representing a consortium of developers at the inquiry, said the change allowed an important element of the London development market to continue.

He said: “Our concern was that if developers wanted to have a smaller unit that was affordable for a single first-time buyer, it was going to become very difficult indeed.”

Other proposed revisions include making delivery of a sufficient number of homes an objective of the plan, whereas in the previous version quality of homes was the only objective.
The mayor will make a final decision on the plan after the inspector’s report of the inquiry.

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