London's recovery starts with you

What definition of poverty is being used. Those based on relative income are inferior to those based on absolute income. Ensuring that those entitled to benefits get them should already happen. Many would benefit from training in budgeting and debt management - is this taught in schools?

The latest initiative by the government in which planning & building safeguards are to be abandoned threatens to reintroduce the slum housing with which too many of us were familiar in the 1950's/early 60's.

I want City Hall to bring proper, civilised social housing back to the capital so that residents can live in conditions which enhance & enrich their lives. It's no easy task - Sadiq Khan has many forces against him but, there are some battles which have to be fought.

Providing social housing must be a priority, including for homeless peole

During the lockdown, the homeless people were housed. Why are they going to be kicked out again into the streets? This is the real problem in London: the silly prices in housing, particularly in rentals. The house market shouldn't exist. To live in a decent house (no rats, no damp, no peeling walls, no toxic materials in your walls, I'm not talking a house with garden and all the commodities) is a right, particularly in our consumer societies. How are you going to tackle poverty if lots of people work just to pay their rent? Until councils take hold of their local land, poverty will be around us because an inherent right, to have a roof over your head, is determined by the free market. 

When the top 1% control 99% of the wealth what do you expect.  When politicians are controlled by large cooperation what do you expect.  When the system is rigged to take money from the poor and to keep people in debt for the sake of control what do you expect.  Only when the truth is told will problems be solved and a just life for all will be possible 

A worthy and excellent mission.  The London Assembly and all the London Boroughs should do more to make things straightforward and 'friendly' for these groups of residents to counterbalance central Government agencies and people that appear to go out of their way to make things as difficult and 'unfriendly' as possible.

The London Boroughs have done well dealing with vulnerable residents during the Covid-19 pandemic 'lock-down'; they need to retain this mindset for other groups vulnerable in different ways in the future.

The number of Londoners in poverty, destitution or homelessness are minimised and reversed POVERTY London has areas where affluence is adjacent to poverty. We have many Londoners who are excluded from opportunity because of poverty. This is institutionally reinforced by poor education, an education system that is stretched to break point managing pupils social problems and not enough time on education. pupils turning up to school hungry. We need a robust process to offer Pupils mentoring, routes into employment, opportunity to shadow jobs/courses to break that vicious cycle of no experience of course/job. Free breakfast club,study club. Poor families to be given food or food vouchers.School can identify and refer families and this can be  managed by voluntary sector without it being prejudicial to pupils. POVERTY Covid has demonstrated that we can use volunteers to distribute food. Partnership with retailers to distribute food. Look to run and support initiative to collect  unwanted or in good state items to those in need eg Smart Works, Suited and Booted. Run courses about budgeting,cooking invite guest chefs. Run a specific course for teens. Destitution is a vicious cycle. Homelessness London has gotten way too expensive. People can't afford to rent/buy where they grew up and this means they lose their support network eg family. Londoners’ disposable incomes are maximised, and housing, energy, travel and food costs reduced  Children MUST travel free no child should pay to go to school. Offer grants to lag lofts and install efficienct boilers.Londoners able to access a robust safety net and tools to develop personal resilience; improved trust and confidence in public services.There is no return to rough sleeping - offer temp rooms in empty accommodation eg office blocks  

It is a viscous circle lockdown removed homeless and others off the streets, now they are returning as things slowly return to the way they were.The homeless charities do a marvelous job in trying to advise, help and house, they should be given more money and resources to do this. Unfortuantely the resources are not there unless you increase taxation which will send a up howl from hard working people who are going to have to pay for the governements handouts because of Covid. In my area blocks of flats arise which over burdens the local infrastructure for health, transport and other essential services. London cannot keep expanding and absorbing more and more people. 

I think it's critical to address the issue of poverty and what is driving this.   There are already many resources available to individuals to freely ask for help in relation to their rights.   Can I ask what additional help we are proposing and at what cost?

In relation to housing and homelessness in particular, I think the first group of people to be addressed should be key workers. Teachers, nurses, other hospital staff, other school staff, etc., are unable to afford to live any where near where they're working.   They have to suffer long journeys at an ever increasing commuting cost due to no availabilty of affordable housing in a safe location.   I think there should be a specific key worker scheme. 

I also belive the house building needs to slow down and potentially stop, human beings crowded together is a large part of the cause of poor air quality, one new build near me has a report clearly showing that by building more housing in the area the air quality will deteriorate further and people's health will be impacted.   These homes should be occupied only with this health warning front and centre. 

I believe we do need to help people where they need help, but they also need to help themselves.  As pointed out in other comments, simply showing up in London shouldn't entitle you to a home.  We have long waiting lists of long time London residents in need and that should take priority.   

Several people have noted that there is a lot of planning permission already granted with no building, perhaps that should be looked into first. 

I think the world has gone benefit mad. Individuals want autonomy, not a big brother state. Conditioning people to rely on benefits instead of getting off their arses and earning an honest living is simply a manifestation of the communist conditioning the left wingers use to bully individuals. We don't all rely on state aid and those that find themselves obliged to from time to time would much rather not. Instead of this incessant drive to get the state to make employment undesirable, why not apply some common sense and encourage individuals to fend for themselves instead of trying to convince them that those at work will look after those that are not. I for one am sick to death of hearing of funding for various minority groups etc. When the majority of us who are trying to get by without handouts are taxed to the hilt and treated like lepers. 

Many people arrive in the city destitute and in poverty particularly from the EU. It is estimated by homeless charities that at least 50% of the homeless are from Eastern Europe . That is not our fault and takes resources way from the genuine homeless who have often suffered financial , social and mental heath issues . This number is only going to increase as word gets around. The courts have made it clear we cannot send them back.  Ironically according to EU date the largest number of homeowners in the EU are now the Eastern European countiies and in particular Romania. The UK is at the bottom. 

At the moment the mayor's office seems to insist on swelling the population of London by building more and more flats that are totally unaffordable by people already in the city who are in housing need but intended to attract well-heeled incomers to swell the population and increase the load on already stretched infrastructure. What is the logic of encouraging population increase in London and the South East when so much of Britain is underpopulated and underdeveloped?

Echoing some comments already posted, I would add a little more radical action to look into empty flats and housing options and challenge the status quo: understand how permissions are granted to developers in the first place ti knock down council houses to build expensive condos that don't sell. Shall we look into forcing to host people in needs if a property remains unsold for a long time and until it's sold? There must be a much more concrete corporate responsibilities from the big players in construction and housing but at the same time a little more stringent directions from City of London and councils. It is simply unacceptable to see so many empty offices and flats that no one can afford to buy and rent whilst the number of rough sleepers keep increasing. 

The homeless issue is a major concern it not only reflects the surrounding area but also contributes to other associated criminal activity in the area. There needs to be be work don in calibration with the voluntary sector who have a lot of experience in this sector. 

During the lockdown it was fantastic to not see homeless people on the street. Now they no longer have a shelter and they have returned. At the same time, I often pass by empty blocks of flats that no one can afford to buy. The flats above my house are empty, as well as my neighbours'. Why do we even bother build houses if we are anyway going to sleep on the streets next to them? This imbalance makes me feel I am part of an inhumane society, and I feel depressed and alienated by this, as well as stuck and unable to help.

I often think I should offer a homeless person my sofa to crash on, but I worry I would be putting my family's safety at risk in doing so, so I'm stuck waiting for a more organised effort to happen. This gets even more heartbreaking in winter, with homeless people dying in the streets due to the cold.

Let's build a tighter community where we look after the most fragile people in our society first, and we will all feel more purpose and meaning, and have fewer mental health issues to treat.