Mayor defies pandemic to start 13,000 new genuinely-affordable homes

• New figures show 13,318 genuinely-affordable homes started on London sites in 2020/21 despite the impact of the pandemic
• Completions up on last year and have risen every year under Sadiq

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has praised the hard work of councils and housing associations as new figures show that 13,318 genuinely-affordable homes were started in the capital last year despite the disruption and delays caused by the pandemic and Brexit.

This total surpasses the annual target agreed with Government at the start of the pandemic, and means annual affordable homebuilding targets have been hit in every year of Sadiq’s tenure as Mayor. In the last five years under Sadiq, London has started to build 63 per cent more genuinely-affordable homes than were started in the final five years of the previous mayoralty.

More than 6,000 homes started in the last year will be available at social rent levels – the second highest annual figure in the last decade (only surpassed by Sadiq’s 2019/20 figures). Throughout the pandemic, the Mayor and the team at City Hall have worked tirelessly to support partners across the housing sector and ensure that building programmes remain on track. The Mayor and his Deputy Mayor for Housing, Tom Copley, have lobbied ministers to back council homebuilding as a key part of their Covid recovery plan, demanded greater investment in construction skills and technology in the wake of Brexit and set out plans to give London’s Covid heroes priority access to intermediate housing.

The number of genuinely-affordable homes completed across London rose last year, with 9,051 affordable homes completed in 2020/21, up from 7,775 homes the year before. This is almost double the 4,881 homes completed in the last year of the previous mayoralty in 2015/16.

Affordable homebuilding is underway across London with every borough reporting new starts in the last financial year. The borough with the highest number of starts last year is Newham, with work beginning on 1,689 new affordable homes. The east London borough also had the highest number of completions last year with 1,275 affordable homes being finished.

These figures underline the Mayor’s determination to do everything in his power to tackle London’s housing crisis and he is urging the Government to give him greater powers and resources to continue this success.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “London’s housing crisis remains one of the greatest barriers to addressing the inequality we face in our city, and a key priority for my second term will be doing all we can to overcome it.

“Today’s figures show what councils, housing associations and the wider London housing sector have been able to achieve despite the instability and uncertainty created by Brexit and the pandemic. They also underline the huge progress made since I became Mayor, when just three homes for social rent were left in the pipeline by my predecessor.

“Despite exceeding my annual targets and starting record numbers of affordable homes for Londoners, there is still a mountain to climb – we need to go further, faster.

“I am determined to build on the record-breaking delivery of genuinely-affordable homes in my first term as Mayor to secure a brighter future for our city.”

Helen Evans, chair of G15 and chief executive of Network Homes, said: “The pandemic has highlighted more than ever the importance of good quality affordable homes to people’s health and wellbeing.

“These figures show that housing associations have remained determined to keep delivering the affordable homes Londoners need, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.

“The G15 is proud to have contributed almost six thousand of these new homes last year and we stand ready to continue to support the Mayor’s housebuilding ambitions.”

Cllr Darren Rodwell, London Councils’ Executive Member for Housing & Planning, said: “With London facing the most severe homelessness crisis in the country, boroughs are totally committed to delivering the affordable homes our city needs.

“The trend is going in the right direction – but there can be no complacency. If we’re to continue increasing delivery, we need the government to give us the powers and resources required to boost local housebuilding at mass scale. The government must step up and match London’s housing ambitions.”