London Councils has announced that there has been an increase in the delivery of council housing in the city, with figures showing that the 2024 target for homes has already been beaten.
The original target was for boroughs in the capital to deliver 20,000 new, council-built homes by 2024, however figures from the Greater London Authority [JD1] have shown that the figure has been surpassed already. This comes thanks to the fact that 2022 saw more council-built homes starting construction than in any year since the 1970’s.
With London facing the worst homelessness crisis in the country, the Mayor set the target of 20,000 new homes in 2018, however analysis from London Councils is showing that the rate of homelessness is rising. The group estimates that there are 166,000 Londoners currently homeless and living in temporary accommodation that has been arranged by their local borough.
Councillor Darren Rodwell, London Councils’ Executive Member for Regeneration, Housing and Planning, said:
“Boroughs are proud to be building the next generation of council homes across the capital. We want to give more Londoners the opportunity to live in affordable, high-quality homes – and increasing the supply of council housing is vital to achieving that.
“London’s housing pressures remain immense. Although we’re pleased with the progress being made, we remain absolutely determined to keep driving up delivery and building the homes our communities are crying out for.”
One reason behind the high homelessness rate, highlighted by London Councils, is the chronic shortage of affordable housing in the city. Due to this, boroughs are continuously pressing the government for more powers and resources to ensure that they can continue to deliver housing and meet the shared priority of eradicating homelessness.
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