Mayor Of London Outlines Housing Strategy

London mayor Ken Livingstone yesterday published a draft housing strategy for London and backed measures to encourage institutional investment in the residential sector.

The strategy, which will become a part of the mayor’s London Plan, has set a target of developing a further 30,500 homes each year to 2016 of which 50% should be affordable providing an additional 50,000 affordable homes between 2008 and 2011. It forms part of new housing and planning powers, to be granted by Parliament to the mayor giving him direct responsibility for London’s affordable housing budget worth over £1billion a year.

Speaking at a conference at lunchtime he said “This is a landmark moment for London’s city-wide government – setting out what I want to do with the new powers and resources in order to increase affordable housing in the capital. We are building on the improvements we have already seen in areas like policing and transport and applying the same approach of planning and investment to tackle the supply of affordable homes.

“This strategy is a blueprint for tackling London’s unique housing challenges. We will build more affordable homes because that is what London is crying out for, which is why there will be no rowing back from the fifty per cent affordable housing target across London. Any attempt to water down the fifty per cent affordable housing target would make it harder to get the new homes we need.

“The strategy will address climate change, one of our most urgent priorities, by building new homes and developments to much higher environmental standards.”