London’s affordable housing delivery falls short

The annual London Assembly Affordable Housing Monitor, published today, shows the scale of London's housing need continues to far outstrip supply.

The report, compiled by the London Assembly Research Unit, examines the Mayor’s progress in delivering affordable homes and highlights the continued gap between housing delivery and housing need across the capital.

The Mayor’s Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) 2021-26 delivered 14,335 affordable housing starts by March 2026, which fell short of the revised target of between 17,800 and 19,000 homes. Nearly four in five homes started under the programme were for social rent.² The Government has since agreed to extend the deadline for starts by up to six months on a case-by-case basis.

In 2024-25, London's affordable housing stock increased by a net 8,184 homes. The Greater London Authority’s (GLA) latest assessment estimates the capital needs 45,500 new affordable homes every year over the next decade to meet demand.

More than 43,000 affordable homes that have been started across the Mayor's two affordable homes programmes are still awaiting completion. That includes over 32,000 homes from the 2016-23 programme and almost 12,000 from the 2021-26 programme.

Key findings of the report include:
 

• The revised affordable housing starts target has been missed for 2021-26 (14,335 starts against a target of 17,800-19,000).
• London continues to deliver only a fraction of the affordable homes estimated to be needed each year (8,184 net affordable homes added in 2024-25, compared with estimated annual need of 45,500 homes).
• Thousands of affordable homes remain in the pipeline but are yet to be completed (11,728 homes under the 2021-26 programme and 32,081 homes under the 2016-23 programme).
• Social rent accounted for nearly four in five affordable homes started under the latest programme (79 per cent; 11,383 homes).
• Council home starts increased in 2025-26 after a weak previous year (3,865 starts, up from 1,328 in 2024-25).
• Housing waiting lists remain high, with more than 340,000 households seeking social housing across London (341,421 households on waiting lists in March 2025).
  
  Lord Bailey of Paddington AM, Chairman of the Housing Committee said:
  
  "Affordable housing delivery is still falling far short of what London needs.”
  
  "Even after targets were revised downwards, they were not met. That reflects the severe challenges facing housebuilding in London, but it also raises important questions about what must change if future programmes are to succeed.”