“Blue light” workers such as ambulance and police officers are vital in helping keep Londoners healthy and safe. But as house prices and rents rise across the capital, blue light workers are being forced to move further out of the capital.
Today, the London Assembly called on the Mayor to support the retention of key worker housing across the city.
Tom Copley AM, who proposed the motion said:
“We must act if we’re to prevent yet more vital public sector staff being priced out of the capital by a chronic lack of affordable homes.
“We know there is the political appetite to protect existing key worker housing and I’d urge the Mayor to take a lead in working with Peabody to block the private sale of these homes on the Victoria Park Estate.
“At a time when the looming threat of a no deal Brexit, and the continued pursuit of austerity, are putting increased pressure on our public services, we must do what is within our power to lessen some of the burdens they face wherever we can. The Mayor’s London Living Rent scheme will play an important part in expanding the number of homes that are affordable to public sector workers, but we must ensure that we don’t lose our existing key worker housing.”
The full text of the motion is:
The Assembly is concerned that more than half of London’s ‘blue-light’ workers already live outside the capital, while many nurses and teachers say that they plan to move away from London due to the lack of affordable housing. As the Mayor’s 2018 London Housing Strategy says, “public services that support our city are also increasingly suffering as a result of the housing crisis.”
The Assembly therefore recognises the vital importance of retaining existing key worker accommodation, especially in Inner London, and calls on the Mayor to work with Peabody Housing Association to find alternative solutions in order to prevent the private sale of former Crown Estate Key Worker Homes on the Victoria Park Estate, and to support the retention of key worker housing across the city.
Notes to editors
- Watch the full webcast
- The motion was agreed unanimously.
- Tom Copley, who proposed the motion, is available for interviews.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
For media enquiries, please contact Aoife Nolan on 020 7983 4067. For out of hours media enquiries, call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the London Assembly duty press officer. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100.