Commenting on the Mayor of London’s announcement on accelerated Olympic Park housing, Labour London Assembly Member for City and East, John Biggs AM, said:
“Londoners need homes now and not promises of homes tomorrow so I am glad we are starting to see progress accelerating. The Mayor needs to be clear that speeding up the construction of new homes shouldn’t come at the expense of making them affordable.
“The original target was for 35% of all homes on the Park to be affordable yet for these neighbourhoods the Mayor is accepting he will fall well short of this. Its fine setting targets for affordable homes but the Mayor has to make sure they do not slip and that homes on the Olympic Park are genuinely affordable to the longstanding communities who have lived in the area for generations. Despite consistently failing to build enough affordable homes in the capital the Mayor has actually cut the number of homes on the Olympic Park which will be affordable.”
“The Olympics was not only a golden opportunity to showcase London to the world but also to spark the desperately needed regeneration of East London. What those of us who lobbied for the Games will not stomach is any idea that the Park could become the preserve of the wealthy by slowly eroding the level of affordable housing.”
ENDS