Property developers fear restrictions on high-rise towers in London under Boris Johnson’s administration, as the new mayor changes planning rules for the capital.

Mr Johnson has announced that he will revise the London Plan, which outlines provisions for viewing corridors and building heights, in a move that could have a significant impact on the capital’s skyline.

In a signal this week that he would reverse his predecessor Ken Livingstone’s support for skyscrapers, Mr Johnson appointed a critic of tall buildings, Sir Simon Milton, the leader of Westminster City Council, as his senior planning adviser.

Developers are concerned that a string of high-density applications, particularly in affluent western boroughs such as Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham, will be threatened now that the capital is under Tory control.

During his eight years of power, Mr Livingstone was accused of sacrificing the city’s heritage, and views of landmarks such as St Paul’s Cathedral, in favour of relentless expansion. Mr Johnson said during the mayoral election campaign that he would block the development of buildings which threatened London’s historic views. He said it was “hugely embarrassing” that the UN’s cultural office, Unesco, saw the Tower of London and Palace of Westminster as potential candidates for the endangered list of world heritage sites.

He has also indicated that he will leave most planning issues to individ- ual boroughs, in a markedly different approach to Mr Livingstone, who took a lead in numerous decisions.

Development industry sources said that there was anxiety that applications would now face rejection or a significant reduction in density.

Greg Hands, the Conservative MP for Hammersmith & Fulham, said that Mr Johnson was unlikely to intervene in councils’ planning decisions unless there was some “overriding democratic reason”. “The broad implications of that for Hammersmith & Fulham is no more skyscrapers.”

Nicky Gavron, the former deputy mayor and Labour member of the London Assembly, said that she could not imagine Mr Johnson was considering a review of the entire London Plan as it would take four years.

She said: “If Boris were to have a presumption against tall buildings, he will not make the maximum use of key sites. I think it would damage London’s economic growth.”

— Guto Harri, 41, a former BBC correspondent, and a contemporary of Mr Johnson’s at Oxford University, has been hired to be the communications director at City Hall.

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