industry news 5 LONDON’S HOUSING CHALLENGE
New Mayor reveals extent of London’s housing crisis
predecessor Boris Johnson on his record of deliv- ery of affordable housing in the capital. Immediately after taking office, Khan asked
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GLA officials to produce an urgent audit of City Hall’s preparedness to tackle the housing crisis. The audit revealed the scale of the challenge now facing the Mayor including the following:
• Affordable home delivery at near-standstill. • An acute construction skills crisis – with annual construction apprenticeship starts in London averaging 7 per cent of the national UK total.
• A flawed process of identifying public land for homes.
One of Mayor Khan’s first visits was to the Land- mark Court site in Southwark, which is owned by Transport for London. The Mayor has said he believes the site is ripe for development, with the potential to build at least 120 new homes. He pledged to build new homes on land owned by the GLA, including Transport for
HBF HOUSING SUPPLY PLEDGE
ambition to deliver further increases in housing supply. In the statement housebuilders commit to work
Major housebuilders pledge to increase supply T
he Home Builders Federation (HBF), has published a ‘statement of intent’ on behalf of its larger members outlining their
closely with Government to increase supply and deliver its target of building one million homes in this parliament. The HBF said this builds on “sig- nificant steps forward that have seen build rates on large sites double to help deliver 30 per cent growth in supply in just two years.” The HBF said it has been in discussions with the
Government for several months on how to increase output. It said the Government was “continuing to respond to barriers to housing growth,” including reforms in the Housing and Planning Bill. The industry, meanwhile, has pledged to continue to grow its businesses, invest more in training and pro- vide more transparency around build-out rates. The HBF will also develop a ‘land exchange’ aimed at allowing larger builders to sell sites or parts of sites to smaller builders. The UK’s biggest builders have increased output
by around 60 per cent since their ‘troughs’ and claim that by 2019 larger companies will be build-
ing double what they did in 2010. Executive Chairman of the HBF, Stewart Base-
ley commented: “The industry has responded to the positive policies introduced by Government and has delivered huge increases in output. All indicators show the significant progress being made and last year we delivered more than 180,000 new homes in England. Moving forward the industry is committed to going further, and provided the political, economic and policy conditions are con- ducive, to deliver further increases in supply.” He continued: “Housebuilders taken on tens of
thousands of new workers to ensure there is the capacity and skills to deliver more high quality homes. Working with Government and others, we want to ensure that the investment environment remains attractive and that the right measures are in place to support the delivery of the homes the country needs.” The Housing and Planning Minister, Brandon
Lewis welcomed the commitment of the house- builders to increase housing supply saying: “This statement shows housebuilders are committed to continuing the growth in supply we have seen. and confirms we can achieve our ambition of delivering 1 million homes.
he new Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has revealed the full extent of the capi- tal’s housing crisis and criticised his
London land, and said he intends to fast-track scores of sites like Landmark Court that are suit- able for development. The Mayor, who wants to see 50 per cent of all
new homes in London being “genuinely afford- able,” also plans to bid to develop other public sector land across London. He will also work with Government ministers to ensure a far more active role for City Hall in identifying surplus public land that can be used for the construction of new affordable housing London. Speaking about the housing challenge Sadiq
Khan, said: “London gave me the opportunity to go from the council estate where I grew up to being able to buy a family home we could afford. But today, too many Londoners are being priced out of our city. “One of the first things we did when we got to
City Hall was open the books and look at what was already in the pipeline and it seems the previous mayor has grossly let down Londoners by leaving the cupboard bare when it comes to delivering affordable housing. “I am determined to fix London’s housing crisis and ensure that all Londoners have the
Sadiq Khan
opportunity to rent or buy a decent home at a price they can afford, but the scale of the challenge is now clearer than ever and we’re not going to be able to turn things around overnight.” He continued: “We will be outlining our
plans in the coming months, but one of the first things we can do is work with Transport for London to fast-track their numerous surplus sites for development which have previously just been sat on. Khan concluded: “There is no doubt we have
our work cut out, but I plan to personally get to grips with the mess that has been left behind and will insist on far higher levels of affordable housing in new developments.”
“I welcome developers’ plans to share with coun-
cils how quickly they will get homes built on sites. I’ll continue working with HBF and housebuilders and look forward to seeing the results of their review of larger sites.” The HBF said it will con- tinue discussions with Government to identify further ways of increasing delivery from existing and new sites, particularly for small builders, and address blockages in the planning process.
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