People's Question Time Online

Can shared ownership be banned and have actual affordable housing in London that people can have 100% ownership?

To the Mayor of London,

The pan-London housing crisis has happened due to a variety of factors and has arisen through years of Boroughs moving residents to other neighbouring boroughs. This typically occurs when inner-London borough cannot afford to subsidise the cost of the inner London private rented sector/ Boroughs like Croydon and Enfield then cannot access housing stock within their own borough due to the overspill. With families uprooted from support networks, work and social infrastructure this costs Councils far more in the long run.
 

What will you do to ensure a housing stock swap occurs, while also protecting residents from homelessness?

The value of reuse of idle luxury houses: If part of the vacant luxury houses in London are rented out at a price of £1 to those with homeless and mental disorders to live and create their own jobs. I think they are the great creators and people who convey the message of God in this world.

Dear Mayor, What do you think of my interesting idea?

Please advise what is the point of developing a local plan if any valid local objections are ignored by City Hall and development amendments imposed by City Hall make an already egregious development even more egregious.  

My private landlord put up rent by 7% in March at the height of lockdown; the market rate was falling not rising, I had no legal recourse to push back. I was told by the agent the landlord owned a vast portfolio of property and since he was losing money on business rents he was hiking up residential rents.

As London goes into Tier 2 and potentially another national lockdown, and the end of protection against eviction, what meaningful action will you take to protect private renters from Landlords who own huge portfolios of putting their losses on us? This isn't about someone renting out a second home, this is about property barons in a totally unregulated market.

I'd like to ask the mayor about what he can do to help those trapped under behemoth housing associations that think they are above the law. There's currently nothing in place to protect tenants or leaseholders - the housing ombudsman is toothless and the law too expensive. Should we really be giving tax payer owned land and money over to these questionable multi million pound "surplus" generating organisations?

Also, can the mayor offer any protections for those who have homes where the landlord / freeholder is also the property developer? This is a massive conflict of interest with no independent oversight.

The current system is unfair and incredibly over expensive for the tenants and money is poorly directed - ending up in the pay pockets of HAs who create such poor quality buildings and manage so badly. It could be put to much better use - many more in need could benefit. There should be much more scrutiny of those subsidised / using public money. What can we do to improve this for the benefit of those living and working in london in need of affordable homes?

As many people have said in the comments, housing is a key issue in the city. Many young professional families, mine included are renting privately and pay almost 50% of our monthly take-home income in rent. The pandemic laid bare a scary reality, being just a paycheck away from not affording rent. It is a scary prospect to know how little stand between having a home and not having any.

For those of us who don't have the possibility to save for a deposit, and the so-called affordable housing is still out of reach when most of our income disappears monthly in rent payments, my question is about renters and their rights.

What is the mayor or London doing to improve the rights of private tennants, can long-term lettings be considered, and their rights protected especially during a pandemic? Are there plans to introduce rent-control and adopt a more continental european model to allow families and renters to live and take part in a community long-term?

Leasehold homeowners across London are being told to pay tens of thousands of pounds in remediation, mitigation and insurance costs to make their blocks fire-safe, according to the new building safety guidelines issued after the Grenfell tragedy.  The fiasco of the EWS1 situation isn't just a case of trapped families unable to sell their leasehold flat, it is also many thousands of Londoners, who perhaps never wanted to move house anyway, suddenly being stung for life-changing sums of money, that they simply can not afford to borrow, let alone pay.  Many of these people are the same key workers who have kept London going through the pandemic, and/or may already be financially suffering due the financial impact of COVID19.  Leaseholders on shared-ownership schemes are being told to pay 100% of costs, even if they own as little as 25% of their lease.  These people are at risk of bankruptcy, lease forfeiture and homelessness.  I know this problem comes from central Government, but what, if anything, is the GLA going to do?  In many cases, the properties are on land owned by the GLA or local councils, and the leases were sold under affordable housing schemes devised by the GLA.  The developers who build these blocks, who undoubtedly have the lobbying and legal power to correct this injustice, if not the funds, are still being offered development contracts across London with the GLA's blessing.  Surely, the Mayor must therefore have some leverage in this situation.  Thank you.

all support for young people looking to get on the housing market is focused on new builds. This is a huge waste of resources and does not address the issues around investors (both native and foreign) buying up existing stock as an investment and leaving it empty. 

What measures are being taken to prevent investment properties from being left vacant and what support is available for first time buyers to buy pre-existing housing stock?

Housing is a massive issue within our community, houses simply aren't affordable anymore. Why is there is a massive lack of support when trying to house young males? We get put in a hostel then relocate to a different hostel and the cycle carries on for years before eventually getting somewhere and i would like to know why? Females get houses almost instantly but for a young male, especially a young black male its near enough impossible. Everything is a challenge for the younger community and i personally don't see any effort or action being taken. 

Whats your solution on this? Would love to hear

I work in a vital industry supporting victims of serious crime. Most of the work opportunities are in London. However, I have felt since the beginning that I would be priced out of the city I love. The work I do is a vocation, I don't do it for the money (believe me), and yet because I am not all about the money I am eventually going to be displaced by high rents, travel costs, and other general living costs. What will you do to support those like me who don't earn even the London average, and therefore cannot see a future with a home, with stability, with hope? How will you restore my vision for a future in this city?

Regulation passed by the Tories for a signed EWS1 fire certificate on all blocks of flats post Grenfell is trapping hundreds and if not thousands of residents in flats that lenders are valuing at nothing making it impossible for Londoners to sell or remortgage homes - this will completely stagnate the market. How can The London Assembly assist in this matter? Barking Riverside (a developmental area the Mayor has visited and championed the ongoing renovation) is particularly vulnerable to this given there are 10,000 flats here with more work ongoing and being built by developers utilising unsafe materials. 

Shared ownership scheme has been increasing rapidly across London. Unfortunately majority of shared owner properties are simply stuck in an effectively glorified rental option instead of the original visions for the scheme. Local authorities and private or social housing providers are not held accountable and left to do as they see fit with deffects,repairs ,NHBC and energy efficiency, leasehold charges and other -which leads to multitude of problems for the young families stuck in resolving any issues. Will the mayor finally address the miryad of issues faced by properly streamlining the scheme and appointing a body that oversees it independently and fairly addressing the problems? 

What are you going to do for those families who struggle to stay in the area they were born and lived their whole lives but struggle in private rented properties but can never access any council or housing association housing as deemed ineligible, removed from any waiting list, never able to access any shared ownership properties - constantly pushed out of the way by the ever increasing population in our local area where there is contstant mass tower block building going on - much bought up then rented out, increasing rents in the area too.

We now know that tower blocks are not the solution to the housing crisis. They are antisocial, increase crime, cost far more to build than other housing, are high-maintenance and unsafe. Most of those currently filling the skyline across London are one and two-bedroom apartments, not badly needed family homes. These shoebox properties are unaffordable to the average person with only rich foreign buyers purchasing them for rental or to leave empty as an investment. The tower blocks being built are ruining communities, throwing neighbouring properties into darkness from the shadows they create and forcing too many people into areas that just do not have the infrastructure to cope, let alone enough green space. Where I live in North-West London, all the new estates have attracted high numbers of drug dealers and anti-social behaviour draining police resources. This is not the way forward.

When is the Mayor going to address all the problems that these tower blocks are creating and start to create proper homes? It is a myth that you need to build upwards to create enough homes as any good architect will tell you. 

I am concerned for Londoners- born in London - but they have had to move away due to not being eligible for social housing and not being able to afford the normal priced homes-BUT because they no longer have a London address they are excluded from applying for affordable London homes- I know many in this category including myself- and I want to come home.......

What priority does the Mayor give to encouraging the development of specialist housing for older people in London. If there were good options for downsizing in the market, shared ownership and rental tenures then larger, under-occupied homes would be freed up for those who need them. There is value in planning for the whole housing market and all ages as the aging population means the choices of 'last time buyers' influence the rest of the system.

Does the Mayor support the Law Commission's recommendations to abolish onerous Ground Rent clauses in property leases and will he promote the abolishing of Leasehold properties.  Enable residents to become true home owners instead of cash cows for off shore millionaires