London Mayor Sadiq Khan reveals housebuilding strategy
London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has unveiled the first draft of the Housing Strategy for London, including plans that will free up sites for affordable housing.
The strategy highlights a fund of £250M that will be used by City Hall to buy and prepare land for new and affordable housing. These funds will be used alongside the additional £3.15Bn set aside for affordable housing in the Autumn statement.
Land made available for housing will then be sold to housebuilders, with the monies then used to buy further land for new affordable homes in a virtuous circle that will see 90,000 new affordable homes on site by 2021.
The strategy includes plans to bring together private tenant and landlords, developing better rights and security for renters in a new ‘London model’ of renting.
Building the right number and the right mix of new homes, and addressing the consequences of the housing crisis, are essential parts of the Mayor’s vision for good growth. He wants every Londoner to have access to a good quality home that meets their needs and at a price they can afford.
The aim of the strategy is to diversify the housebuilding within the capital, allowing a wider variety of homebuilders to complement the work of traditional private sector developers. Alongside this, the mayor acknowledges the need for support within the industry by bringing more workers into the sector and tackling the construction skills crisis as well. To assist in this, the mayor will provide leadership and coordination to improve the image of construction. The strategy commits to improving London’s construction skills training system, and support the industry through the risks posed by Brexit.
Khan said
From £250M to kick-start my plans to secure more land for new and affordable homes, to a new model and fairer deal for millions of private renters, I want to help all Londoners facing the housing crisis
I will use my powers and resources to their fullest extent, but government needs to play its part too by giving London the powers and resources we need to see an even greater step-change in the number of homes being built.
The draft strategy will undergo three months of consultation before the strategy is implemented.
Source: UK Construction Media
