London Mayor launches 'Domesday Book' of publicly-owned property

Surplus public land in the capital will be identified for development by a new London Land Commission’s modern ‘Domesday Book’, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson has announced.

The commission will coordinate land holdings by central government, the Greater London Authority and the London boroughs to find idle sites that could be used for housebuilding.

Launched by London mayor Boris Johnson and housing minister Brandon Lewis, with £1m in initial government funding, the commission has appointed property firm Savills to compile the preliminary stages of ‘Domesday Book’ of brownfield public land by the end of 2015.

The commission will develop strategies for unlocking this land for development and identify priority areas for future growth.

Johnson said: “In a city like ours, with its burgeoning population, it is simply madness not to act as quickly as we can to unlock more of these kinds of sites.

“The commission’s work will be vital in co-ordinating the efforts of a whole raft of public bodies to achieve this important goal, helping to cut through the red tape that has kept valuable land tied up for too long.”

The mayor said 98% of brownfield land in his direct control had already been released for development.

London Councils’ executive member for housing Sir Steve Bullock said: “It is vital that our overall strategy to tackle the housing crisis delivers an increase in affordable homes for ordinary Londoners.

“The efficient use of vacant land, whether owned by the mayor, Transport for London, boroughs, the NHS or private sector developers, is a key part of the solution.”

Landowning bodies represented at the first commission meeting were NHS England, the Department of Health, Network Rail, the Department of Communities and Local Government, Transport for London, Network Rail, London Councils and the Greater London Authority.