The Mayor, Boris Johnson, has more than doubled the number of affordable housing starts in the capital in less than a year and remains on track to deliver up to 100,000 affordable homes for working Londoners over two Mayoral terms, boosting the capital’s construction industry and creating thousands of jobs.
In 2012/13 10,092 homes were started – more than double the number achieved in the previous financial year. In addition, a total of 8,114 affordable homes were completed.
Having delivered a record number of affordable homes in his first term, the Mayor is now on track to deliver a further 55,000 in the 2011/15 investment round. At the half way point he has already completed over 25,000 affordable homes.
Earlier this month the Mayor secured a minimum of £750m for London in the Budget, to help boost new build construction and support thousands more mid-income Londoners to buy their own home through low cost finance. This is in addition to the £100m already pledged as part of his ‘Housing Covenant’ to stimulate the market, cut red tape and broaden the range of low cost home ownership products available.
The Mayor is continuing to call on the Government for London to retain the huge Stamp Duty Land Tax receipts generated by property sales in the capital to re-invest in house building and regeneration. The receipts would give the city the continuous stream of funding needed to boost supply of this vital infrastructure and increase confidence in the market.
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “Increasing the supply of affordable homes in London is intrinsically linked to the future economic growth of the capital. Without homes to live in the hard-working Londoners who keep this city thriving will be forced to move elsewhere taking with them their energy and drive. While there is a growing momentum behind affordable housing delivery, we need to redouble our efforts, which is why I will continue to call on Government to give London all the tools and funding it needs to increase the supply of affordable homes in the capital.”
As well as assuming control of the capital’s housing budget, the transfer of assets under the Localism Act 2011 has also seen the Greater London Authority become one of the largest owners of public land in London. The Mayor is determined to speed up the release of this, and other publically held land, to get more homes built for Londoners and support the capital's economy.
He has already released more than 100 hectares of this land, with an economic value of £1bn, for development and committed that there will be a clear outcome agreed on all the GLA’s land by 2016.
In the last financial year, the Mayor invested just over £180m across twelve London Boroughs through his Decent Homes programme to bring existing stock up to standard with modern facilities and suitable insulation and heating. This funding will bring circa 12,000 homes up to the Decent Homes standard.
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Notes to editors
- In 2012/13 10,092 homes were started. In 11/12 there were 4,017 starts.
- Against a target of 7,562 affordable completions for the financial year 2012/13, the Greater London Authority achieved 8,114, exceeding the Mayor’s target by 552 homes.
- The GLA housing budget for the funding round 2011/2015 is £3bn.
- A detailed breakdown of all affordable housing starts and completions by London borough and tenure will be provided in early summer.
- The Mayor manages a land and property portfolio that transferred from the London Development Agency (LDA), London Thames Gateway Development Corporation (LTGDC) and the Homes and Communities Agency in London, following devolution in April 2012.
- Last month he launched a new Land Assets Database detailing, for the first time, the land holdings of the GLA’s functional bodies. He is also establishing a housing procurement panel to help public land owners, such as London boroughs and Government departments, fast-track the release of their public land and avoid the expensive lengthy process they would otherwise have to take on if they acted alone.
- The Decent Homes Programme is reported quarterly in arrears and the final outturn for 2012-13 will be fully reported after June 2013. The figures above relate to the expenditure and outturn confirmed by Boroughs for the 12-13 programme.