The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has doubled the council housebuilding target for the capital, aiming for a total of 20,000 new City Hall-backed homes by 2024, after previously meeting the former 10,000 target.
This turnaround in council building has been driven by initiatives such as the Mayor’s £1bn Building Council Homes for Londoners grant funding programme, the Homebuilding Capacity Fund, and the Right to Buy-back programme.
All but three of London’s councils have active housebuilding programmes in partnership with City Hall. Last year, Southwark led the way with 878 starts, followed by Havering (593), Barking and Dagenham (424) and Newham (410). Bromley, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kingston upon Thames and Sutton all started building City Hall-funded council homes for the first time last year.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “There’s no quick fix to London’s housing crisis, but we’re taking some big steps in the right direction by backing a renaissance in council homebuilding.
“I’m proud that we’re reversing the decades of decline in council homebuilding and that last year, more council homes were started than in any year since the 1970’s, but I’m determined to go even further. That’s why today I’ve set an ambitious unprecedented new council housebuilding target, pledging to start 20,000 new council homes by 2024.
“In London today, we’re not just building more council homes, we’re building better too. The new generation of council homes are some of the best that have ever been built: modern, sustainable and fit for the 21st century. These new homes form a key part of building a better London for everyone – one that is greener, fairer and more prosperous for all.”
Cllr Merrill, Southwark’s Cabinet Member for Council Homes and Homelessness, said: “We are proud to be leading the way in the London council homes building renaissance, and providing much-needed new homes for our residents. We hit our target of starting or delivering 2,500 new council homes by May 2022 and we have plans to build 1,000 more by 2026. We are grateful to have the Mayor’s support to tackle the housing crisis locally and leave a lasting legacy of high-quality council housing for our communities.”
Source: Show House News
