On 23 May 2018 the Mayor of  London’s press office issued a news release entitled ‘Judge rules in favour of Mayor’s threshold approach to affordable housing’.

‘The Planner’ re-iterated the claim with their article entitled ‘High Court supports Khan’s affordable housing threshold approach’.
And indeed, this was the case – but this was not the full story…

On the McCarthy and Stone, Pegasus Life and Renaissance Retirement websites on the same date there appears an item entitled ‘Judge rules in favour of retirement consortium’s judicial review of the Mayor of London’s SPG.’  

So who really did win and what does it mean?

Background
A challenge was issued in the High Court to the Mayor of London’s Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) ‘Homes for Londoners’ on Affordable Housing and Viability which was published in August 2017.

The challenge was submitted by a consortium of retirement housebuilders made up of McCarthy & Stone, Churchill Retirement Living, Pegasus Life and Renaissance Retirement in November 2017. The oral hearing took place between 1-2 May 2018 at the Royal Courts of Justice.