The Mayor of London has said he is tackling London’s housing crisis “head on” by building thousands of homes ahead of schedule, but his critics have accused him of using “smoke and mirrors”.
Sir Sadiq Khan on Tuesday announced more than 8,000 new homes have been started, five years ahead of his 2030 target.
The mayor also confirmed over 11,600 homes were completed last year, with 6,700 of them being described as “affordable homes for social rent and equivalent”.
But the Conservatives say that the new homes represent just an eighth of Sir Sadiq’s housing target.
London needs to build close to a million homes over the next decade to meet demand, according to City Hall, with 88,000 new homes needed a year.
Lord Bailey, City Hall Conservatives' housing spokesman, said: “Khan's own Government have set him the target of building 88,000 homes a year, in recognition of the acute housing crisis in London which is driving our rents and mortgages up.
“He's proud to be announcing that he's only met 1/8th of that target.
“We want this Government to succeed, for the sake of our city and our country - but Labour have clearly failed.
"With just 2.5% of his promised affordable homes being completed despite receiving almost £9bn from the last Government, this is a clearly a smoke-and-mirrors announcement by the Mayor to distract from his housing failures.
“We need to move away from talking about ‘housing starts’ - you cannot live in a start, only a completion."
City Hall has insisted that the mayor’s announcement builds on Sir Sadiq’s strong housing record, having completed more new homes than any time since the 1930s ahead of the pandemic.
Earlier this year, Sir Sadiq called for thousands of homes to be built on the green belt around London to fix the capital’s housing crisis and City Hall has been exploring areas it could build on.
Sir Sadiq also praised the Mayor’s Land Fund during his announcement, explaining it had helped thousands of homes to be started five years ahead of schedule.
The Mayor’s Land Fund was established by Sir Sadiq in 2017 to help directly tackle the city’s housing crisis and allows City Hall to buy land for developers and partners to build homes at a greater speed.
The £736 million fund, which includes £486million from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, does not have any constraints in the type of investment it can provide.
It has already been used to loan the Peabody housing association over £41million to deliver 1,000 homes at the former Holloway Prison.
The fund has also been used to buy surplus land at hospital sites that could deliver a further 1,000 homes across Enfield and Haringey.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “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.
“I am proud that nearly 6,700 affordable homes at social rent levels were completed last year, which is the highest in a decade.
“But we know there is more work to do to fix the housing crisis in London. 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, added: “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.
“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.”
