Affordable housebuilding in London down 88 per cent in dent to Khan’s rep

The number of affordable homes built in London between April 2023 and March this year fell by 88 per cent, despite continued promises from Mayor Sadiq Khan to boost the supply of housing in the capital.

Just over 3,100 affordable housing builds began work across Greater London between April 2023 and March of this year, down from 26,386 starts in the previous 12 months, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In Harrow, Bexley and Richmond-upon-Thames only one affordable property was started during the year.

The mayor’s 2021-26 housebuilding programme had aimed to build 35,000 new affordable homes using the government’s £4.82bn grant, but 2023’s figures account for less than ten per cent of the promised five-year total.

Ex-housing minister Lee Rowley has previously hit out at Khan’s record on LBC Radio, saying that he needed to do more to build homes in the capital.

For his part, Khan has accused “Tory town halls” of blocking new homes from being built in London, and pledged to crackdown on housebuilding ahead of his last re-election. He has also blamed the slow building rate on low investment due to “thirteen years of failure on housing by the Tory government”.

The Mayor said earlier this year: “The Conservatives nationally have scrapped housing targets and failed on their affordable homes plans. Meanwhile, Tory town halls in the capital simply aren’t keeping pace in delivering the new homes we need, ripping away the ladder from young Londoners.

“I’ll not hesitate to act to boost the number of new homes for London families, especially the council homes that our city needs most of all.

The Government has said low investment will be mitigated by its pledge of more than £5bn to combat the housing crisis in its inaugural Budget, in addition to a range of measures to support its target of five million homes over this Parliament, including skills training, reforms to the planning system and additional assistance for affordable housing.

The government will also add £500m to the Affordable Homes Programme to “kickstart the biggest increase to social and affordable housebuilding in a generation”, Reeves said, putting the country “on the path” to building 1.5m homes over this Parliament.

BusinessLDN policy director Jonathan Seager has also pointed to suffocating planning requirements, with section 106 – which requires the developer to mitigate the impact of their development on the local community – a particularly inhibiting force.

Labour’s is expected to announce details of its planning reform next year.

A Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “These statistics emphasise the scale of the housing crisis we have inherited. We will fix this by delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housing in a generation.

“We will also make changes to the planning system, restore mandatory housing targets for councils, and we have boosted the Affordable Homes Programme by £500 million.

“Everywhere must play its part to bring the housing crisis to an end and we will work in close partnership with the Mayor to radically boost housebuilding in the capital and build the homes that London needs.”