Sadiq Khan calls on the government to kickstart a slowing housing market

In reaction to the growing national housing crisis, Sadiq’s Deputy Mayor for housing and residential development, Tom Copley, and councillor Darren Rodwell, executive member for housing and planning at London Councils met with other key figures in the sector this week as part of the reconvened London Housing Delivery Taskforce.

The Taskforce, which comprises leaders from London councils, unions, construction bodies, developers, community groups, industry organisations and housing associations is asking the Government to ensure that affordable homes continue to be built in London at the pace and scale that is needed.

Today in a letter to Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Housing, Sadiq is also calling for an additional £2.2bn in affordable housing investment to help kickstart a slowing housing market.

The letter includes a stark warning that developers could be forced to down tools if Government does not provide the funding that is required to revive housing delivery across the country after decades of austerity and a lack of commitment from those in power in Westminster.

In the short term, the Mayor is calling on Ministers to inject £2.2bn in additional funding to boost London’s affordable housing delivery to levels that were agreed with Government as recently as 2020. This would boost genuinely affordable homebuilding from the 23,900-27,200 homes currently expected to be delivered as part of the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme, to 35,000 homes.

In the longer-term, Sadiq continues to call for a funding settlement that meets London’s need, independently assessed by housing experts Savills as requiring £4.4bn a year in affordable housing investment.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Housing has been a top priority of mine since I was elected, and I’ve left no stone unturned in getting London building again. In recent years, more homes have been completed in the capital than at any time since the 1930s, genuinely affordable homebuilding has hit the highest level since records began, and we’ve started work on more new council homes than at any time since the 1970s.

“But with spiralling costs, the housing sector is increasingly facing a perfect storm of pressures. The national housing crisis is not just piling pain on households, but it’s threatening future housebuilding too. The Government cannot afford to sit around any longer. We need urgent investment from the Government to keep our city and our country building.

“If not, Government inaction is seriously risking housebuilding grinding to a halt across the country and putting a stranglehold on the progress we’ve made in London.”

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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