A new poll commissioned by the GLA has shown that Siân Berry’s priority of making city life more affordable is Londoners’ number one demand.
More than eight out of ten say that the cost of housing is a problem affecting their quality of life.
As Mayor, Siân will use planning rules to increase the availability of affordable housing, cut housing costs by insulating all homes for free, and stand up to Whitehall to get boroughs building public housing again.
In the annual London Survey, conducted by Ipsos-MORI, 83% say they want affordable housing to be a top priority for London, the top issue in the city for the second year in a row. Siân launched her “A Green London is an Affordable London” campaign with a raft of policies to bring down the cost of living, including decisive action on housing costs:
- Increasing the requirement for affordable housing to 60% in all new developments.
- A more stringent definition of ‘affordable’ to increase availability of homes to rent.
- Lobbing the Government to write off historic housing debt to enable new council housebuilding.
- Free insulation for every home that needs it to cut fuel bills and improve health.
Siân said: “London is the second most expensive city in the world, and while billions are made in the City, ordinary Londoners often struggle to pay for the basics – housing, energy and transport. Being Green is about believing in a fair share for everybody, so I’m determined to cut the astronomical cost of living and make a fairer, Greener London.
“This poll shows that the cost of a roof over your head is the biggest worry for many Londoners. While developers throw up thousands of luxury flats, the city is crying out for quality, affordable housing. I’ll use planning powers to make developers build more affordable homes, and keep more of them in the social rented sector so that they stay affordable.
“I’ll also call the Chancellor’s bluff on housing debt – boroughs are held back from building new public housing because of money they owe to the Treasury. But the Government has tried to use this debt as a bribe in privatisation votes. They can clearly afford to cancel it, so they should do it now and get the boroughs building again.
“Housing costs are not limited to the rent or the mortgage. Fuel poverty is at its highest for ten years, and gas prices just keep rising, but the government isn’t doing anything about it. To cut fuel bills, I’ll give free insulation to every home that needs it.”