Affordable housing starts target missed in London by thousands

At the time, it said this was down to a “perfect storm in housebuilding”. 

The data was published in the Affordable Housing Monitor (AHM). This annual report tracks the mayor’s progress against his commitments alongside the delivery of affordable homes in London.

According to the AHM, London’s affordable housing stock increased by a net 8,184 homes in 2024-25. 

The GLA’s latest assessment estimates the capital needs 45,500 new affordable homes every year over the next decade to meet demand.

More than 43,000 affordable homes that have been started across the mayor’s two affordable homes programmes are still awaiting completion. That includes over 32,000 homes from the 2016-23 programme and almost 12,000 from the 2021-26 programme.

According to the monitor, 73% of homes funded by the AHP 2016-23 have been completed.

The government allocated £4.8bn to the mayor for the programme, with a target of 116,000 affordable home starts by March 2023. There is no deadline by which homes must be completed under this programme.

The AHM showed that 3,865 council homes were started under GLA affordable housing programmes in 2025-26.

Since September 2018, 29,224 council homes were started and 16,055 were completed. These figures include homes acquired from the private sector.

Of the 29,224 council homes started since September 2018, nearly half (13,169) were not yet completed as of March 2026.

The mayor of London has been contacted for comment.

Lord Bailey of Paddington, chairman of the London Assembly’s housing committee, said: “Affordable housing delivery is still falling far short of what London needs.

“Even after targets were revised downwards, they were not met. That reflects the severe challenges facing housebuilding in London, but it also raises important questions about what must change if future programmes are to succeed.”