Responding to the Mayor’s plans to raise the target for affordable housing in London, Labour’s London Assembly Housing Spokesperson, Tom Copley AM said:
"Today the Mayor has given a clear signal that he understands the scale of the challenge our city faces. To make some serious progress, we need to see a radical plan of action. The Mayor should now go even further and commit to offering a very significant proportion of affordable homes at social rent levels.
"Theresa May has paid lip service for the need for more council house building. But the £2 billion she announced to support this is barely a drop in the ocean. Instead, she should take the £10 billion she proposes to use to inflate house prices via Help to Buy and use it to build 167,000 new social houses.
"If the government is serious about supporting council house building they must also remove the cap on council borrowing to build new homes. It is absurd that it's easier for a council to borrow to buy a shopping centre than it is for them to borrow to build the homes we need."
Notes to editors
- Tom Copley AM is a London-wide Assembly Member.