Massive government investment is needed to help London double its housebuilding and ramp up the number of new affordable homes, Mayor Sadiq Khan has warned
According to new analysis published by City Hall, the capital needs 66,000 new homes every year to meet growing demand and correct years of underinvestment.
Almost two-thirds of these homes – 65% – would have to be affordable properties, it adds.
The mayor said the private sector alone is unable to deliver the level of affordable housing needed and a “profound” new programme of government investment and action is required.
Funding for affordable homes in London alone would have to rise to £2.7bn a year – five times the current spending level, the analysis suggests.
The mayor is calling on Chancellor Philip Hammond to use next month’s Budget to immediately double funding to restore it to the 2009-10 level of £1.75bn a year.
This should be alongside a long-term commitment to deliver the resources London needs, as well as additional investment in transport and infrastructure to unlock housebuilding, Khan said.
He is also urging the government to grant the capital new devolved powers over public land and to allow London boroughs to borrow more to fund housebuilding.
Khan criticised his predecessor, Boris Johnson, for cutting the number of homes for social rent from 1,687 in 2012, the year he took control of London’s affordable housing investment, to just 336 in his final year in office – and leaving a pipeline of zero social rent properties for 2016-17.
The mayor has set affordable housing targets for each London borough but warned that “we simply can’t do it on our own”.
“Successive Prime Ministers have failed to invest anywhere near enough in building new affordable homes. The previous mayor stopped investing in homes for social rent altogether and cut the number of new affordable homes he funded to the lowest level since records began,” Khan said.
“We can all see the results – too many luxury penthouses that only the very wealthiest investors can afford and nowhere near enough homes within reach of ordinary Londoners.
“This government keeps saying they understand the scale of London’s housing crisis, but these statistics prove they are just tinkering around the edges. It’s time for the Prime Minister to match her words with action and use the Budget to commit to the profound increase in investment and powers London needs to tackle this crisis once and for all.”
Kath Scanlon of the London School of Economics added: “The UK as a whole doesn’t have a housing crisis – London and the South East do. The crisis stems from strong demand and weak supply, and the mayor’s new figures emphasise the scale of the shortfall.
“London’s elected authorities could do much more to address the housing issue if they had the tools that major cities in other countries take for granted, particularly around taxation.
“The only way London can significantly increase housebuilding is through additional government investment and the further devolution of powers to City Hall. Now is the time for all layers of government to work in partnership with developers to ensure London meets its housebuilding target.”
