London has surpassed a central government-set target to build 116,000 affordable homes by 2023, Sadiq Khan has said.
Sharelines
In a speech to members of the London housing sector this morning, Mr Khan said the threshold, set in 2015 as part of a £4.82bn funding agreement, had been met ahead of the end of the financial year.
That would mean affordable homes equivalent to the whole housing stock of Plymouth have been built in the capital in the past seven years.
However, Mr Khan warned that London’s rents are rising at their fastest rate in a decade, putting the city at risk of becoming a “playground for the rich”.
According to the Greater London Authority (GLA), 116,782 affordable homes were started since the target was set while Boris Johnson was mayor of London.
Fewer than 110,000 affordable homes have been started under Mr Khan’s leadership, as he was first elected mayor in May 2016.
The government’s rules allowed the 116,000 homes target to include affordable homes started in 2015-16. It also extended the deadline from 2022 to 2023 because of the pandemic.
Mr Khan said: “London is building again. In recent years, we’ve completed more homes of all types than at any time since the 1930s.”
He added that work started on a record 25,658 affordable homes last year, up from 18,840 in 2021-22.
According to the GLA, 58,936 affordable homes have been completed in London since April 2016. In the most recent year, 13,954 affordable homes were completed, 2,362 of which were council homes.
Earlier this month, the GLA said it had hit its own target of starting 20,000 council-built homes since 2018.
In his speech, Mr Khan warned that the housing crisis is “turbocharging inequalities in wealth, health and happiness”.
According to the Office for National Statistics, private rental prices in the capital rose by 4.6% in the 12 months to February 2023, the strongest annual percentage change since 2013.
Property agency JLL reported earlier this year that rents in London had risen 21% between 2019 and 2022, while rental listings had dropped by 35% in the same period.
“It’s making our city less meritocratic and more divided,” Mr Khan said. “I don’t want to see London become a playground for the rich.”
Mr Khan reiterated his call for a rent freeze in the capital. His efforts to secure the power from central government have been rebuffed by ministers.
“This is where politics comes down to choices because we’re choosing to build the genuinely affordable homes Londoners need, not prioritising luxury penthouses for overseas investors,” he said.
“We’re also choosing to take the side of renters by demanding the government introduce a rent freeze. We’re choosing to reject the notion that housing is an asset, rather than a basic necessity. And we’re choosing to crack down on dodgy landlords, stand up for working Londoners and get tough with developers.”
He added: “I will not rest in continuing to pull out all the stops to crack London’s housing crisis… brick by brick, an affordable housing revolution is under way.”
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