Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has reached his council home building target, with the latest figures showing that more than 23,000 new City Hall-funded council houses have been started since 2018.
Mr Khan pledged to support the starting of 20,000 council homes by 2024 after hitting his previous target in March 2022 to build 10,000 council homes.
The increase in council housing has been helped by Mayoral initiatives such as the £1bn Building Council Homes for Londoners grant funding programme, the £10m Homebuilding Capacity Fund, and the Right to Buy-back programme.
‘There’s no quick fix to London’s current housing crisis, but I’m hugely proud at the progress we’re making delivering a new era in council homebuilding in the capital,’ Mr Khan said.
‘We’ve hit our ambitious target early, with more than 23,000 City-Hall funded council homes started since 2018. This is the highest number since the 1970s, and a key part of my plans to build a better, fairer London for everyone.’
Mr Khan also called on the Government to show the same scale of ambition as London, by backing a new funding programme exclusively for council homes.
City Hall analysis of the latest data reveals that if the rest of England were building council housing at the same rate per head of population as London, it would mean 65,000 new council homes nationwide. Instead, the latest data shows that only 4,325 council homes were started in the rest of England in 2021/22.
‘The fact that latest available figures show that only 4,325 council homes were started over a year in the rest of England is a national scandal,’ Mr Khan commented.
‘Council house building has essentially come to a halt, which is why I’m calling on ministers to urgently set up a new Government fund exclusively committed to funding new council homes across the country.’
Cllr Darren Rodwell, London Councils’ executive member for Regeneration, Housing & Planning, said: 'Boroughs are proud to be building the next generation of council homes across the capital. We want to give more Londoners the opportunity to live in affordable, high-quality homes – and increasing the supply of council housing is vital to achieving that.
'London’s housing pressures remain immense. Although we’re pleased with the progress being made, we remain absolutely determined to keep driving up delivery and building the homes our communities are crying out for.'
