Sadiq Khan accused of failure over housing targets

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has claimed he’s fixing London’s housing crisis by delivering 8,000 new homes, despite the figure falling far short of his own target.

Mr Khan announced his Land Fund project will deliver 8,000 new homes for Londoners five years ahead of the 2030 target.

However, the City Hall Conservatives have accused the Mayor of a “smoke-and-mirrors announcement to distract from his own housing failures.”

Tackle housing crisis head-on

According to City Hall, just over 11,600 homes were completed in London last year, nearly 6,700 of them affordable homes for social rent or equivalent.

Mr Khan said: “The innovative Land Fund has enabled us to tackle the housing crisis head on, starting more than 8,000 new homes five years ahead of schedule. I am proud that nearly 6,700 affordable homes at social rent levels were completed last year, which is the highest in a decade.

“But we know there is more work to do to fix the housing crisis in London. I’m pleased that the government has committed to work with me to establish the City Hall Developer Investment Fund to unlock further housing in London. I will continue to work closely with them to secure even more national support to help build the level of new housing London needs, as we build a better, fairer London for everyone.”

However, Mr Khan fails to mention he was forced to cut his housing targets after pledging in his manifesto that half of all new developments in London would be affordable, now reduced to a 35% target.

Labour have clearly failed

Lord Bailey, City Hall Conservatives’ housing spokesman, told Property118 that London still needs 88,000 new homes a year over the next decade to meet demand.

He said: “Khan’s own government have set him the target of building 88,000 homes a year, in recognition of the acute housing crisis in London which is driving our rents and mortgages up. However, he’s proud to be announcing that he’s only met 1/8th of that target. We want this government to succeed, for the sake of our city and our country, but Labour have clearly failed.

“With just 2.5% of his promised affordable homes being completed despite receiving almost £9bn from the last government, this is clearly a smoke-and-mirrors announcement by the Mayor to distract from his housing failures. We need to move away from talking about “housing starts”, you cannot live in a start, only a completion.”