14.07.17
Khan strikes £1.7bn deal to deliver 50,000 affordable homes in capital
A record £1.7bn deal has been struck to deliver 50,000 new homes in London. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said that the deal between City Hall, London councils and housing associations would see new, affordable housing constructed in every borough in the capital.
Councils and housing associations have made the commitment in response to the first call for bids to the record-breaking £3.15bn affordable homes funds that was secured from the government last year.
The deal is also triple the number of new homes that that were secured by the final call for bids issued by the previous mayor, Boris Johnson, in 2014.
Around 17,500 of the new homes will be for rents around social levels, whilst just under 32,000 will be for a combination of Khan’s new London Living Rent and Shared Ownership.
London Living Rent is a new type of tenancy introduced by the mayor last year to help middle-income earners get on to the housing ladder.
“I want to see everyone playing their part in tackling the housing crisis in London, because it is simply unacceptable that Londoners continue to be priced out of a city they call home,” Khan said.
“We know that solving the housing crisis is not going to happen overnight, but I very much welcome so many housing associations and councils matching my ambition by committing to build the new and genuinely affordable homes Londoners so desperately need.
“I am delighted that we have set a City Hall record for the number of homes allocated funding - but I am clear that we have got much more to do to secure the land we need to build homes and ensure we have sufficient capacity in the construction industry.”
The new homes will be delivered by 44 housing providers – including large and small housing associations, as well as nine London councils.
Sir Steve Bullock, London Councils’ executive member for housing, said that councils were doing their utmost to tackle the housing crisis which, without action, will result in those providing vital services in our communities being forced to move out of the city.
“This package will provide much-needed additional support to help boroughs and housing associations realise their ambitions of providing high quality, affordable new homes,” he added.
Graeme Brown, interim chief executive at Shelter, stated that millions of families across the country are “suffering at the hands of our housing crisis, but the situation is absolutely critical in the capital”.
“At Shelter, we see the impact of our chronic shortage of affordable homes every day, with increasing numbers of people left struggling to cope as they fork out most of their hard-earned wages on expensive private rents, while waving goodbye to the chance of saving for a stable home of their own,” said Brown.
“But it doesn’t have to be this way, which is why we welcome these plans from the mayor and look forward to working with him to make sure these homes are genuinely affordable for Londoners to buy or rent in the long term.”
Top Image c. John Stillwell from PA Wire
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