London promised more low-cost homes

18 September 2007 - Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKL1832077

Fifty thousand more affordable homes will be built in London in the next three years in a bid to ease the capital's chronic housing shortage, Mayor Ken Livingstone has announced.

Livingstone pledged the new supply -- which he says will increase affordable housing by 50 percent and double the number of homes for social rent -- under new powers that give the Mayor's office control of a budget worth over one billion pounds a year.

"This strategy is a blueprint for tackling London's unique housing challenges," he said. "We will build more affordable homes because that is what London is crying out for."
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A call for affordable housing has grown louder in the capital in the last few years with soaring house prices, a growing population and overcrowding making housing one of the most acute problems for Londoners.

Housing Minister Yvette Cooper said: "Families in London, like the rest of the country, urgently need more affordable homes.

"That's why we announced 8 billion pounds of investment in the Housing Green Paper for thousands more affordable and social homes, and why we are backing more homes for London."

A study investigating the possibility of increasing the target of 30,500 new homes to be built in London every year is also suggested in the draft housing strategy.

February will mark four years of the 50 percent rule where developers must ensure that half of their properties contain affordable housing.

New affordable homes and developments should also meet the government's Code for Sustainable Homes, the plan says.

 

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