Super-sized "mega homes" are to be banned in central London as Westminster City Council draws up new plans to ensure "real people" can buy properties.
The council, which oversees some of London's most expensive postcodes including Mayfair, Knightsbridge and Belgravia, said it will restrict new builds over 150 square meters (1,615 sq ft), in order to preserve homes for "real people" instead of oligarchs and members of the global elite.
Westminster council argued that 150 square meters is "generous", as it is 50 per cent larger than the average family home in the area.
The new rules, outlined in the council's 2019-40 development plan, include a commitment to build over 10,000 affordable homes in the borough by 2040.
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In the report, the council says the limit is: "12 sq m above the highest minimum standard in the NDSS and is 50% higher than the average size of a private market tenure home in Westminster (100 sq m). It will still enable generously sized homes to be developed to meet development from the prime market, but balances that against the other, more strategic housing need of the city."
Richard Beddoe, who oversees planning at the council, said: “We want Westminster to be home to thriving, mixed communities, not empty super prime properties. That’s why we will be restricting the size of new luxury apartments and introducing a new extra bedroom policy to make it easier for families to extend their homes so they have enough space to stay living in Westminster and are not forced to move out.
"Building the right type of homes for people to live in is priority number one in our City Plan. There’s a national crisis and we have to play our part in fixing that, not just for the benefit of UK as a whole, but for the real people who have legitimate aspirations to build their lives and grow up with their families in our city.”
The ban does not apply to family homes which have been converted into flats and are being restored to their original function as a single home.
Westminster council hopes to bring down the median house price, currently £1.05m, as it argues is unaffordable for the majority of its residents.
It said: “The average household income in Westminster is £52,199, yet the median house price was £1,054,400 in 2017.
“That’s nearly two times higher than London as a whole, and almost five times higher than that of the UK.”
Earlier this year, the council banned a 1,590 square metre, £40m, mega-home from being created in a Grade I listed terrace overlooking Regent's Park as part of its plans to tackle the housing crisis.
Mr Beddoe said at the time: "Our city’s golden postcodes must not be used for Monopoly board-style investments to cater only for oligarchs and the most wealthy."
