Mayor of London Delivers Big Increase in Affordable Homes.
Sadiq Khan is committed to delivering thousands of affordable homes.
The Mayor of London’s commitment to increasing the number of truly affordable homes being built in the capital is paying off, and builders now include more affordable housing in their development plans than ever before.
The council’s new analysis of planning data shows that since Sadiq became mayor in 2016, the share of affordable housing in council-approved plans has nearly doubled, from a record low of 22 per cent in 2016 under the previous mayor to 40 per cent in 2020. Meanwhile, the mayor’s introduction of fast-track planning for plans that include at least 35 per cent affordable housing, or 50 per cent on rebuilt or public industrial land, has seen the number of planning requests that meet this threshold increase, increasing by 45 per cent since 2018.
These increases translate into thousands of new affordable homes for Londoners, which would not have been built if Sadiq had not made them a fundamental part of his vision for the future development of London. The builders have taken note of this commitment to affordable housing in London, along with supplemental planning guidance and the new London Plan, and are working with the Mayor to deliver the homes Londoners desperately need.
The new London Plan, released in March, sets out the mayor’s plan for good growth, a key part of which is working to rebalance development in the capital towards more genuinely affordable housing for working Londoners to buy and rent. Last year 13,318 truly affordable homes were built in the capital despite the disruption and delays caused by the pandemic and Brexit. The Mayor has surpassed the target he agreed to with the government for affordable housing construction every year since 2016 and affordable housing construction is underway across London, with all boroughs reporting new starts in the last financial year.
The mayor’s planning powers play an important role in achieving these goals, and Sadiq considers around 170 strategic planning requests each year. In 2020, this resulted in the approval of 38,865 households where the average proportion of affordable housing per scheme was 40 per cent.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “Building more genuinely affordable housing for Londoners remains a top priority for me as Mayor. It’s great news that my approach to holding developers accountable has led to a sea change in the delivery of affordable housing in our city since 2016. We still have a long way to go to fix the housing crisis, but it’s clear that our approach is bearing fruit, helping us deliver the homes Londoners can afford, rather than the luxury penthouses that were prioritized in the past.”
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