London luxury-home prices have surged in the past five years as political and economic turmoil overseas attracted cash- rich buyers and foreign investors seeking a haven.

Coming Crackdown?

The rise in home expansions comes amid signs that London’s boroughs may start taking a tougher stance on them. The city’s housing shortage, which Mayor Boris Johnson described as its biggest problem, is increasing pressure to consider restrictions on a privileged few making larger spaces for themselves. An assessment of Kensington & Chelsea’s housing policies will be published next year, according to the council.

The review “will recognize the need to strike a suitable balance between catering for the market in large homes and endeavoring to optimize housing delivery and providing a diversity of housing,” Emma Strugnell, a spokeswoman for Kensington & Chelsea, said by e-mail.

Westminster Council, which oversees the wealthy Mayfair, St. James’s and Belgravia neighborhoods, in January said it may adopt a policy of recommending that planners reject all multilevel basement additions and extensions that are more than 50 percent of a property’s yard size.

Kensington & Chelsea’s decision to review its planning policies prompted a flurry of homeowners to seek approvals for extensions before any new rules take effect, Savills’s Harris said.

“There have been a lot of high-profile projects for amalgamating apartments and large basement digs,” he said. “There’s a view that in London there might be a clampdown.”

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