City Hall has accepted an offer of £55,000 towards its legal costs from nine London boroughs who lost a High Court challenge against Boris Johnson’s affordable rent policy.
Last year the Mayor altered his planning and development framework to allow rents of up to 80% of the market rate to be classed as “affordable” and removed the freedom of local councils to set their own rent levels.
The changes were opposed by Islington, Camden, Brent, Enfield, Greenwich, Lambeth, Southwark, Hackney and Tower Hamlets councils who argued they would make many areas unaffordable to those on low and modest incomes.
In March the court rejected an appeal from the boroughs against the changes.
Dismissing the case, Mrs Justice Lang said while the Mayor’s strategy “may be open to legitimate criticism”, it was “plainly within the band of reasonableness.”
According to City Hall, the councils have now agreed to pay £55,000 towards the £61,590 cost of defending their ill-fated court action.
