Developers in London are increasingly considering housing models other than traditional private leasehold flats as they try to make schemes work in a difficult market, a City Hall hearing has heard.
A senior borough housing and regeneration officer told the committee that the mix of homes being planned in new blocks had changed markedly since before the pandemic. Instead of a development being dominated by leasehold apartments, he said, a comparable proposal might now contain build-to-rent homes, co-living accommodation, student rooms, housing for older people or affordable homes.
The evidence came during the committee’s examination of the Mayor’s affordable-homes programmes. The session brought together council representatives, housing providers and City Hall officials to discuss delivery pressures and the type of homes London needs.
Those comments do not mean that leasehold homes have disappeared from the capital. Rather, they describe a change in the choices being considered by developers when they assess the financial viability and likely demand for a scheme. The officer said a block of around 50 flats that might once have been expected to be leasehold could now be developed under one of several different tenure models.
For people hoping to buy a first home, the distinction matters. A leasehold purchase gives the buyer a long lease on a property rather than ownership of the building or land outright, and it can involve service charges for communal costs. The officer said the price of new flats and concerns about building-safety work and service-charge levels were among the issues that could make prospective purchasers pause before committing.
Build-to-rent, by contrast, is designed and managed for renters rather than for individual sale. Co-living generally provides smaller private rooms alongside shared facilities, while purpose-built student accommodation is aimed at students. These models can meet particular forms of demand, but they do not provide the same route into owner-occupation as a flat sold to a first-time buyer. Affordable housing also covers several tenure types, including social rent, intermediate options and shared ownership.
The hearing placed that market shift alongside broader concerns over the capital’s housebuilding record. Official background papers for the meeting said 14,335 affordable homes had started under the 2021-26 programme by March 2026, against a revised target range beginning at 17,800. The deadline for starts has been extended by up to six months in individual cases.
Another witness described construction costs as exceptionally high, citing pressures including materials, interest rates and labour shortages. Those constraints affect the amount of housing that can be delivered as well as the tenure chosen for a scheme. They also help explain why a change in the mix of proposed homes cannot, by itself, solve London’s shortage of homes that are genuinely affordable to local households.
The committee was considering both the completion of earlier programmes and the design of the next long-term funding programme. Ministers have allocated up to £11.7 billion for London’s social and affordable homes programme running from 2026 to 2036, although the eventual number and type of homes will depend on schemes coming forward and being delivered.
For Londoners, the key question is whether a broader range of housing models expands useful choice or further narrows the supply of homes available to buy. The hearing did not make a planning decision or announce a change in tenure policy. It did, however, put on record a view from a borough housing leader that developers are adapting their schemes as the economics and perceived risks of new leasehold flats become harder to manage.
