A higher rate of affordable housing could be built in London if a draft proposal for a non-negotiable rate of 35 per cent on new developments is realised.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, plans to scrap viability assessments, which private developers use to determine how much affordable housing they can allocate to a site.

Under his plans, announced in Estates Gazette, there will be a set rate of 35 per cent of affordable housing on every development.

That will be a non-negotiable flat rate. 

Jules Pipe, who officially becomes deputy mayor for planning on Monday, told Estates Gazette that City Hall and boroughs were in discussions over a circa 35 per cent set tariff.

He said: "It is certainly a possibility and I know that it is being looked at both by City Hall and by boroughs. It is just one possible solution, but it would be good if we can come to some sort of easily understandable, hard-to-avoid contribution rate that avoids all these endless disputes and turns it into a bit of an industry for people to represent sides in these arguments."

Mr Khan said he was committed to providing a 50 per cent rate of affordable housing across the borough when he campaigned for Mayor of London and the rate of housing will be evened out with public sector developments. 

According to EGi, deputy mayor for housing James Murray has been informally consulting developers on an initial 35 per cent fixed affordable housing rate.