London has exceeded the Government’s target for affordable housing starts under the Mayor’s £4 billion Affordable Homes Programme, despite ongoing pressures facing the housebuilding sector.
New figures from City Hall show that 21,001 affordable homes were started under the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme, surpassing the Government’s upper target of 19,000 by 2,001 homes. The milestone adds to a wider achievement of more than 116,000 affordable housing starts across the capital since 2016.
The announcement comes at a time when the housing sector continues to face significant challenges, including rising construction costs, higher borrowing rates, tougher building safety requirements, and delays within the Building Safety Regulator process. Together, these factors have created substantial barriers to bringing new developments forward.
Housing remains one of the most pressing issues facing London, and City Hall says increasing the supply of affordable homes continues to be a central priority. To help unlock development and accelerate delivery, the Mayor agreed a package of temporary emergency measures with the Government earlier this year.
The measures include a new time-limited fast-track planning route for eligible schemes, supported by £324 million of Government funding through the City Hall Developer Investment Fund. The initiative is aimed at helping stalled projects proceed and bringing forward the construction of new homes more quickly.
Looking ahead, the Mayor has also secured up to £11.7 billion in Government funding for the new 2026-36 London Social and Affordable Homes Programme. Initial allocations worth at least £6 billion have already been offered, with around 60 per cent earmarked for local authorities to deliver new council housing.
The funding package is expected to support the delivery of thousands of additional social and affordable homes across London over the next decade, including homes available for social rent.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said:
“I’m hugely proud that we’ve exceeded the Government target. Councils, housing associations, and housebuilders across London have worked hard to get these homes under way in some of the toughest conditions for housebuilding in years, and today’s figures show that our collective work is delivering for Londoners.
“Building more social and affordable homes is a top priority and I’m taking the tough decisions needed to get them built.
“I know we’ve still got a long way to go to tackle the housing crisis. I’m working closely with the Government to agree temporary emergency measures to get stalled sites moving. We’ve also secured funding to help build thousands more social and affordable homes over the next decade to ensure we deliver the homes Londoners desperately need, as we build a better London for everyone.”
Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government Angela Rayner said:
“Londoners deserve decent, affordable homes and it’s encouraging to see the capital exceeding its target, as we continue to turn the tide on the housing crisis.
“We know we need to go further though, and we’ll continue to work closely with the Mayor, with up to £11.7 billion made available to get stalled sites moving and build the social and affordable homes families desperately need.”
The latest figures provide a positive boost for London’s housing ambitions and demonstrate progress against affordable housing objectives at a time when development activity has slowed across much of the UK. However, with demand for affordable homes continuing to outstrip supply, City Hall and Government face ongoing pressure to maintain momentum and increase delivery levels in the years ahead.
Image credit: iStock
