London mayor told to more than double homes being built

The new Labour government has asked London Mayor Sadiq Khan to more than double the number of new homes being built in the capital each year.

He has been set a new target of about 80,000 homes, compared to the 35,000 built last year.

Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Angela Rayner told Parliament the mayor was “determined to rise” to “a huge ask”. A City Hall spokesperson said the mayor welcomed the changes.

But the Conservatives say the new figure is less than London needs and less than the target they had set the mayor for home building in the capital each year.

Setting out her to plans to restore mandatory house-building targets and overhaul the planning system, Ms Rayner said the Tories had imposed on Mr Khan “a nominal target of almost 100,000 homes, which was based on an arbitrary target which was absolute nonsense”.

Currently the mayor’s London Plan, which sets the planning framework for the capital, aims for 52,000 homes annually – but about 35,000 were built last year.

Ms Rayner added: “The target we’re now setting for London – roughly 80,000 new homes – is still a huge ask but I know it is one that the mayor is determined to rise to and I met him last week about this.”

Shadow housing secretary, Kemi Badenoch, challenged Ms Rayner on what she claimed amounted to “reducing the housing need calculation for London” while putting pressure on non-urban areas to build more homes.

She added: “Can she explain why she is reducing the need for cities like London to build more housing when they are the ones who have more infrastructure to support it?

“Why is she forcing suburban and rural areas to take more housing when there are schools in Hackney like De Beauvoir Primary and Randell Cremer Primary, which are shutting down because they don’t have enough pupils?”

Ms Badenoch said there needed to be penalties “for local leaders like Sadiq Khan” who she said failed to meet their housing need target.

Ms Rayner said the Tory government had failed its own house-building targets every year.

Housing has become a major issue in the capital, which voters highlighted in both the mayoral and general elections earlier this year.

Mr Khan claimed he had “smashed” the central government target of starting work on 116,000 affordable homes over his two terms as mayor, using £4.8bn from Whitehall.

However, the 65,000 affordable homes “completed” under the Labour mayor compared to more than 90,000 under his predecessor Boris Johnson.

Mr Khan said he had been focusing on providing more social rented homes, which required more public subsidy.

The City Hall spokesperson added: “Sadiq has long called for the restoration of housing delivery targets and a planning system that backs genuinely affordable and social housebuilding.

“Sadiq is proud that despite obstruction from the last government, under his mayoralty, London has built the most number of council homes since the 1970s and completed more homes of any kind since the 1930s.”

A review ordered by the previous housing secretary, Michael Gove, suggested the current mayor’s planning and housing strategies had been stifling home-building.

Mr Khan said it was a politicised attack on his record, and he had been delivering more homes than anywhere else in the country.

Labour has argued that improvements will now come from the government and City Hall working in tandem.

During the general election campaign, the prime minister and the mayor promised to complete 40,000 new council homes by the end of the decade, two years beyond the next mayoral term.

Mr Khan’s opponents pointed out that a large proportion of these homes would be finishing those he had already started. They could also include the repurchasing of ex-council homes.