Better, More Affordable Housing
Everyone should be able to live in an affordable, secure and decent home - but London's unbalanced economy and housing market make this impossible for a great many Londoners. The overheating of London's economy at the expense of other regions also causes housing pressure on London. Greens advocate a more balanced approach to regional development to relieve housing pressure on London.
1.5 million homes have been sold through the right to buy legislation, many of them in London, but have not been replaced. Greens will press Government to fundamentally reform the Right to Buy system - to end discounts and ensure all receipts are used to build new social housing on a "one sold - one built" basis.
Urgent action is needed to improve housing for Londoners - including greater re-use and renovation of unused buildings and the building of sustainable new homes.
The Green Party advocates:
- Using the Mayor's strategic housing powers to ensure the provision of high quality, truly affordable homes.
- Supporting retention and expansion of council housing, by putting a stop to privatisation and the loss of social homes through "right to buy".
- Higher targets for sheltered and accessible housing.
- A London strategy to end fuel poverty, with targets for fuel poverty reduction and monitoring.
- Free insulation available to everyone in London.
- Change planning rules to ensure at least 60% of all new housing is affordable.
- Have secure parking for bicycles.
- Ensure all new developments that the Mayor has direct control over are carbon neutral.
- Ambitious targets for car-free housing.
