London mayor announces 8,000 new homes 5 years ahead of schedule
Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan announced that more than 8,000 new homes have been started in the city five years ahead of schedule.
The new homes are enabled through the Mayor’s Land Fund, which was established in 2017 to help tackle London’s housing crisis by providing investment for new homebuilding projects to increase the pace of development in the city.
Comprising over £736 million in funding, the Land Fund can purchase land for developers and can provide a broad range of investment opportunities alongside commercial partners.
In addition to beginning 8,000 new homes five years ahead of schedule, Khan also announced that last year saw London complete 11,600 new homes – its second-highest number since 2015.
Of the new homes completed in London last year, almost 6,700 are affordable homes designated for social rent or equivalent programmes.
The Mayor noted that London’s housing crisis remains a major challenge, however, requiring 88,000 new homes every year for the next decade to meet housing demand.
To approach this unprecedented homebuilding target, the Mayor has said City Hall will explore releasing parts of the city’s green belt for property development.
Khan has committed to working with London boroughs to build 40,000 new council homes by 2030 and deliver thousands of new affordable homes, which will be aided by the government’s recently announced record funding settlement for social and affordable house building.
This funding package will see London receive up to £11.7 billion over the next ten years from the government for homebuilding.
“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,” Khan said.
“I am proud that nearly 6,700 affordable homes at social rent levels were completed last year, which is the highest in a decade.|
“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.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said tackling the housing crisis was paramount for improving the lives of young Londoners and people across the country.
“We’re facing a housing crisis which has stopped our young people from achieving the dream of homeownership, especially in London where there is a real demand to build the affordable homes we need,” Rayner said.
“That’s why we welcome the Mayor of London pushing ahead to build these homes, and we will continue to work hand-in-hand with him to deliver on our stretching target of 1.5 million homes through our Plan for Change.”
