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GLA in talks with developers over making unsold homes affordable
London mayor Sadiq Khan’s team is in talks with developers over making unsold homes in London available for affordable tenures to meet extra housing need arising from the coronavirus crisis, Inside Housing has learned.
In a letter to London Assembly member Siân Berry, seen by Inside Housing, deputy mayor for housing Tom Copley said he is working with developers “to explore what scope exists” for using unsold new builds “to help meet some of that pressing housing need”.
It is understood that the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) priority is to find homes for key workers in immediate need during the pandemic.
But discussions about “flipping” unsold market homes to become affordable housing permanently are also in their early stages.
Housing market transactions have plummeted amid the pandemic, with property consultant Knight Frank predicting a 40% fall in sales this year.
The Federation of Master Builders has claimed that 31% of small and medium-sized developers have completed homes standing empty because of buyers delaying or pulling out as a result of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, there are fears that homelessness could spike once government restrictions on evictions during the crisis are lifted.
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Ms Berry, who is co-leader of the Green Party, said: “Numbers of Londoners needing urgent housing help from councils are rising as the coronavirus crisis means people and families who were ‘hidden homeless’ can no longer rely on sofa-surfing and staying with friends.
“In London there are a number of ways in which unoccupied or unsold homes could be used, either as temporary accommodation for those in housing need, or as more permanent affordable rented homes.
“It is right that the mayor has picked up on my suggestion to look into this and he should be working with London’s councils on making as many homes as possible available, and for the long term.”
In her initial letter to Mr Copley and Mr Khan earlier this month, Ms Berry asked whether City Hall had considered using unsold homes to meet housing need.
Mr Copley’s response said local authorities in London “are likely to be exploring all potential options, which include the use of empty homes” on estates scheduled for demolition to meet “deepened housing need” during the outbreak.
He also said the GLA is pressing top government ministers “to issue a statutory instrument alongside the Coronavirus Act, imposing tougher restrictions on non-safety critical construction work” and fund the cost of waking watches in buildings with dangerous cladding where remediation cannot practically continue.
The government has said that construction sites can stay open, with housing secretary Robert Jenrick urging house builders to keep working.
