The sky will not be the limit for new building in Westminster, if a radical new plan is approved.
Skyscrapers would not be given planning permission and there would be "a restriction on oligarch homes" said the councillor in charge of planning and place shaping, Richard Beddoe.
That's if the council’s city plan 2019 to 2040 gets the go-ahead.
"We have had far too many mansions built in recent years," he said.
The proposals were launched on Monday and he explained them to the annual meeting of the planning and city development committee.
"Westminster is not the place for skyscrapers. A few have been approved. They cause us some anxiety and I don't want to see any more of those."
The proposed rules would mean that buildings of a maximum of 20 storeys would be allowed in Paddington and just 12 in Victoria.
Councillor Beddoe told the planning and city development committee under the proposed new plan, Portland House in Victoria, Merchant House in Paddington and City Hall would not get planning permission.
Instead, developers will be told that two thirds of affordable homes they build in Westminster must be in the reach of middle-income families.
The new policy is part of a sea change for Westminster in its new city plan which is designed to make it easier for ordinary people to live in the borough.
Councillor Beddoe said people aged 30 to 40 were moving out for space to start a family as just 1.5% of the homes in the borough were "intermediate" homes where they could afford to live.
"The point is to try and keep families in Westminster," he said.
The council has set its sights on building 1,495 new homes in the borough each year, which is higher than the 1,010 minimum set out in the London plan.
Councillor Beddoe said the amount of affordable homers developers have to provide would also be increased from 30% to 35%.
Developers would also have to show how their proposals benefit the community.
Councillor Guthrie McKie (Labour, Harrow Road), said: "I’m disappointed at the housing part of the plan, that we are not going to build housing for people in housing need. There are 2,640 families in temporary accommodation."
He said many families would not be able to afford intermediate homes.
Councillor Beddoe responded that the plan was about planning permission aspirations.
Other moves include encouraging "more imaginative" ways of building affordable homes, such as building modular homes.
The council also plans to prevent small shops being expanded in Soho to try and preserve its character, and hotels there would be limited to a maximum of 35 bedrooms.
Councillor Louise Hyams (Conservative, St James’s) asked why other areas such as Covent Garden were not getting similar treatment.
Councillor Beddoe said: "The people in Soho have been particularly vocal in their views."
Retailers will be able to create destinations above ground level with restaurants and gyms to help them "fight back against online" competition.
The council also wants to encourage more businesses to bring 75,000 new jobs to the area. Currently 120,000 companies support 650,000 jobs in Westminster.
It also wants to tackle pollution which it says "is the biggest concern among residents".
Moves include supporting more electric vehicle charging points, insisting new car parks have electric charging points and making more green spaces.
The council is consulting on its blueprint for the future until Friday, December 21.
