Camden's draft Local Plan drops its basement footprint cap and admits a 2.8-year housing supply. 148 changes are out for comment until 23 November 2026.
Camden’s new Local Plan is going to be looser on basements than the version the council sent for examination. That is one of 148 changes now out for public comment.
The changes are called main modifications. The Planning Inspector says the plan needs them to be found sound. The council published them on 12 October and comments close on Monday 23 November 2026. (Camden Council, Examination news)
The schedule also confirms something the council has not put in a press release. On the sites it can identify today, Camden has 2.8 years’ worth of housing land, against the five years national policy expects.
The basement rule is being relaxed
The draft plan, Policy D6, said a new basement must not be larger than the footprint of the house above it. The only exceptions were a lightwell or the access to the basement. That rule is being deleted.
In its place come the limits Camden already uses under its current 2017 plan. A basement must:
- not take up more than 50% of each garden within the property
- be less than 1.5 times the footprint of the house in area
- reach no further into the garden than 50% of the depth of the house, measured from the main rear wall
- go no further into or under the garden than 50% of the garden’s depth
- avoid the loss of garden space or trees of townscape or amenity value
(Camden Council, Schedule of Main Modifications ED103, MM129)
A basement still cannot be more than one storey, which the council takes to mean about 3 to 4 metres. The 50% garden test is applied to the front, rear and side gardens separately, and the garden that is left must be in one piece. (ED103, MM132 and MM133)
The change followed objections from two basement groups, ASUC and Basement Force. The council’s note to the Inspector says the 2017 criteria were brought back “to ensure that appropriate limits continue to apply to basement development”. (Camden Council, Note on Policy D6 Basements, ED97)
The same note withdraws the council’s own case for the tighter rule. That case was that under the 2017 approach, large homes and homes with large gardens “tend to have disproportionately large basements”. It also said smaller basements would mean shorter building works for neighbours and less risk of groundwater flooding. The council now says those passages “can be disregarded”. (ED97, pages 7 and 8)
Camden cannot show five years of housing land
The Inspector’s letter of 12 August sets out the housing position plainly. Camden expects 4,714 homes in the first five years of the plan. The target for those years, once the backlog and a buffer are added, is 8,350. (Planning Inspector, Post Hearings Letter ED102)
The Inspector called the shortfall “substantial”, and found the plan as submitted unsound but capable of being made sound. The Inspector decided against adding new housing sites or rethinking the strategy, saying the evidence showed “all reasonable opportunities for further housing delivery have been explored”. (ED102, paragraphs 2, 7 and 8)
The answer is a review clause. Under the modifications, Camden must start a new Local Plan once the new London Plan is adopted, or five years after this plan is adopted, whichever comes first. The council expects the new London Plan in early 2028. (ED103, MM143 and MM146)
The overall target stays at at least 11,550 new homes from 2026/27 to 2040/41. That includes 1,038 a year for the first three years, the figure in the current London Plan. (ED103, MM64)
Affordable housing: the 50% aim is not expected
The plan keeps its target of 3,000 affordable homes over the same 15 years. A new passage now says the council “does not expect that the 50% strategic target will be met” in Camden. (ED103, MM68 and MM70)
It gives three reasons:
- a quarter of the homes completed from 2015 to 2025 came from sites of fewer than ten homes, where on-site affordable housing is not sought
- high land values make affordable homes expensive to build and limit grant
- there is little public land the Mayor can use, and no Tube or TfL rail depots
Student housing and allocated sites
Student housing schemes get a firmer test. The draft said they must not cause a “disproportionate” loss of ordinary homes. The new wording says they must not cause the net loss of two or more homes, unless the applicant shows the scheme makes a significant contribution to housing supply and needs. The plan also records that only 20% of Camden households live in three-bedroom homes, from the 2021 Census. (ED103, MM77 and MM78)
Seven sites are taken out of the plan because they already have planning permission or will be finished by the end of 2026:
- Belgrove House (S12)
- Middlesex Hospital Annex, 44 Cleveland Street (S27)
- Charlton Street, Godwin and Crowndale Estate (S29)
- Highgate Centre, Highgate Road (C20)
- Abbey Co-op Housing Site, Emminster and Hinstock (W11)
- 551-557 Finchley Road (W13)
- 317 Finchley Road (W14)
(ED103, MM29, MM34, MM35, MM53 and MM59 to MM61)
What it means for you
If you live next door to a house that might dig down, the basement limits in the new plan will be the 2017 ones, not the stricter draft, if the Inspector accepts the change. Until the new plan is adopted, the 2017 Local Plan stays in force.
This is the last formal chance to comment. The test is narrower than in earlier rounds. Comments on the main modifications go to the Inspector, who is checking whether the plan is sound and lawful, not whether you prefer a different policy. Comments on the minor changes and the policies map go to the council instead. (Camden Council, Main Modifications consultation)
How to take part:
- Deadline: Monday 23 November 2026
- By email: planningpolicy@camden.gov.uk
- Quote: the MM number you are commenting on, for example MM129 for basements
- Paper copies: Pancras Square, Highgate, Holborn, West Hampstead and Swiss Cottage libraries
After the consultation the Inspector writes a final report. If it finds the plan sound, the council can adopt it, and it replaces the 2017 Local Plan.
Our guide to where the plan has got to, and the planning decisions that matter this month, is on the Camden planning news page.
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