Revitalising homes and communities

Creating more mixed communities

London is a diverse city, with some of the most affluent neighbourhoods in the UK alongside some of the most deprived.

In 2001, 50% of London’s social housing was concentrated in 25% of its council wards while, in contrast, 25% of its wards contained only 5% social housing.

Promoting mixed tenure is essential to creating and sustaining the balanced and mixed communities that make London thrive. London’s legacy of single-tenure estates has in some cases led to concentrations of deprivation and worklessness on one side and gated communities of privilege on the other.

Revitalising homes and communities in London

Regenerating estates and areas offers an opportunity to really improve the lives of residents living in difficult and unattractive locations, creating a sense of belonging, ownership and inclusion.

In the current economic downturn, some regeneration schemes have needed additional investment to keep them going. The Mayor and the HCA have stepped in to kick start these schemes.

Bringing empty homes back into use

One of the key challenge in revitalising communities is bringing the capital’s empty homes back into use, with some 82,000 empty homes at present – 2.5% of the total housing stock. This is below the nation’s average of 3.1%, but is still unacceptably high.

The Mayor is working with partners to:

• promote successful, strong and mixed communities in which people are proud to live and where a mix of housing tenure is in place
• ensure that regeneration measures are targeted at the areas that need it most
• deliver and maintain a reduction in the number of long term empty and derelict buildings – turning these into homes for Londoners.

London Housing Strategy

Assembly response to the Mayor's Draft Housing Strategy