Figures released by the Government today show that only 8,600 homes have been built in London so far in 2013. The figures for the three months to June show completions fell 3 per cent, and starts rose 6 per cent, compared to the equivalent period in 2012 but both remained far below the Mayor’s target. The Mayor has suggested we need to build at least 40,000 homes a year to meet needs and stabilise prices.
London Green Party Assembly Member Darren Johnson commented,
“House prices are going to keep soaring ahead of people’s incomes if the Mayor keeps pegging his hopes on housing supply and the figures keep coming up so short. We can’t solve this affordability problem just by hoping that private developers will build more homes for investor landlords to snap up. The Mayor needs to lobby for £1 billion a year to build social housing for people on low incomes, and for stabilising rent controls and more secure tenure for the Londoners priced out of our dysfunctional housing market.”