London Green Party Assembly Member Jenny Jones questioned the Mayor of London yesterday on his revisions to the London Plan at the London Assembly’s Extraordinary Plenary meeting at City Hall. The Assembly and nine London boroughs have previously objected to the Mayor’s affordable rent policies, which would prevent boroughs from setting their own rent levels for “affordable rent” housing through the planning system. Currently these can be set at up to 80% of market rents, but some boroughs want the option of setting lower limits.
One borough that objected was Westminster City Council. There, if a three bedroom home were set at 80% of market rents, a family would need to find £2,600 a month to pay the rent. For this to count as ‘affordable’, they would need to earn £150,000 a year.
Jenny commented,
“The Mayor’s policies are a recipe for higher rents and a higher benefit bill. He wants to block boroughs from negotiating lower rents because that might mean fewer homes are built. But what is the point of building more homes that are totally unaffordable?
“The Mayor should focus on securing a £1bn a year budget for low rent social homes, investing today to reduce the benefit bill for years to come and provide homes for the people who keep London going.”