Sadiq Khan announces record-breaking delivery of affordable housing
By Joe Acklam
16th May 2023 | Local News
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has confirmed that London have delivered a record-breaking number of affordable homes and surpassed their target of 116,000 across the capital.
During a speech on 15th May Khan announced that he had surpassed his target of 116,000 affordable homes in London between 2015/16 and 2022/23, the equivalent to the number of homes in Plymouth.
A record breaking 25,658 affordable homes were started in London in 2022/23 and aside from the pandemic year of 2020/21, the number of affordable homes being built has increased every year since Khan became mayor.
Khan said: "The housing crisis is turbo-charging inequalities in wealth, health and happiness. It's making our city less meritocratic and more divided.
"As Mayor, I don't want to see London become a playground for the rich – I'm determined to build a London for everyone.
"I'm proud to say: London is building again. In recent years, we've completed more homes of all types than at any time since the 1930s.
"While the Government has shamefully scrapped its own home-building targets, we're busy meeting ours.
"In London, not only have we hit our target of starting 116,000 new genuinely affordable homes, we've exceeded it.
"I've always been honest with Londoners – that the housing crisis was decades in the making and it will take time to fix.
"It will be a marathon, not a sprint. But, thanks to the exercise of concerted political will, we're moving in the right direction."
The definition of affordable house in London means: London Affordable Rent - rent is affordable for those on low incomes, London Living Rent - a house which helps Londoners on average incomes save for a deposit on a house, London Shared Ownership - people who want to buy who can't, and Social Rent - people on social housing waiting lists.
Geeta Nanda OBE, G15 Chair and Chief Executive of MTVH, said: "Tackling the housing crisis London faces is an absolute priority for G15 housing associations.
"As not-for-profit organisations driven by our social purpose, we are pleased to have worked with the Mayor, local authorities, and central government to start building over 43,000 affordable homes for Londoners since 2015.
"Alongside investing around £1billion every year to maintain and improve existing homes, we are working hard, with the Mayor, to strive to meet the ongoing need too many people have for a decent, safe, and affordable place to call home.
"To meet this challenge, we urgently need a credible and well-resourced plan for affordable housing in London and across the country.
"This will take partnerships across the housing sector, and between different tiers of government, to deliver."
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