Mayor of London off target on affordable housing

Wednesday, 28 November 2018 10:01

London needs 66,000 new homes each year. However, in recent history, nothing like this capacity has ever been delivered. [1] In 2016-17, there were just 41,371 net additions to London housing stock. [2] Less than 5,500 affordable homes were completed in 2017-18, compared with an average of over 10,000 per year in the last decade. Almost half of London’s need is for social rent, but only 14 per cent of all home starts so...Request free trial

London needs 66,000 new homes each year. However, in recent history, nothing like this capacity has ever been delivered. ^[1]
In 2016-17, there were just 41,371 net additions to London housing stock.^[2]
Less than 5,500 affordable homes were completed in 2017-18, compared with an average of over 10,000 per year in the last decade.
Almost half of London’s need is for social rent, but only 14 per cent of all home starts so far in this Mayoral term are for social rented homes.^[3]
The Mayor has received £4.82bn to deliver 116,000 affordable home starts by March 2022.
This year’s target range for starts is 14,500 to 19,000 - but only 2,400 were recorded in the first six months of this year.^[4]

Today, the London Assembly Housing Committee, publishes its new ‘Affordable Housing Monitor’, an annual report which clearly shows the Mayor’s record in delivering affordable homes for the capital.

The Chair of the Housing Committee, Sian Berry AM, said:

“The Mayor is letting down Londoners, he promised us more affordable housing but so far has fallen very short of his promises, particularly on social housing which is our greatest need.

“With young and lower-income people suffering the most from the housing crisis, we can’t wait much longer for his policies to kick in.

“The Mayor must fulfil his pledges. It is in his power to ease the housing crisis and meet his targets – especially as he has received new funding.

“There is now no excuse for genuinely affordable housing to be out of reach for Londoners who want a secure home.”

Today, the Committee will analyse the monitor, the Mayor’s funding programmes and delivery of affordable homes in the last year. The affordable housing delivery meeting will also consider the likely impact of his new funding for council homes.

The guests are:

James Murray, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development, GLA
David Lunts, Executive Director, Housing and Land, GLA
Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz, London Borough of Newham
Councillor Emily Davey, Portfolio Holder for Housing, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
John Hughes, Group Director of Development, Notting Hill Genesis

The meeting will take place on Wednesday, 28 November at 10.00am in Committee Room 5, City Hall (The Queen’s Walk, London SE1).

Media and members of the public are invited to attend

The meeting can also be viewed LIVE via webcast or

Notes to editors:

[1] The assessment of London’s housing need has been updated under this Mayoralty to show a need for 66,000 homes annually from 2016 to 2041, although the need assessment which applied in 2016/17 was lower (42,000).
[2] This is all net additions to London’s total housing stock. The Mayor sets the London-wide planning regime governing the number of market homes which are built but does not control the number of homes built for the private market.
[3] Recent figures show social rented home starts are at 3% nationally.
[4] Starts usually increase towards the end of the financial year. At this stage last year about 700 starts had been delivered and the Mayor just managed to meet his final target for the year.
The ‘Affordable Housing Monitor’ is attached