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Khan outlines housing policies
Labour’s candidate for London mayor has published more detail about how he would keep his promise of ensuring half of the homes built in the capital are “genuinely affordable”, if elected.
Sadiq Khan yesterday launched his election manifesto, which outlines in more depth his housing policies. The broader outlines of most have been largely trailed before.
Mr Khan’s housing policies include setting up a dedicated ‘Homes for Londoners’ team in City Hall, which will bring together housing, planning, funding and land powers with experts. It aims to raise investment and assemble land for housing.
Mr Khan has pledged, if elected, that half of new homes built in London will be affordable. To do this, he says he will support councils “to enforce new rules to maximise affordable housing in new developments” and wants greater transparency over viability assessments, which are often used by developers to reduce affordable housing obligations.
He also pledged to support social landlords to build and to work with them “to help them invest their land and resources effectively” including Right to Buy receipts. Mr Khan has previously warned housing associations they would have to replace homes sold under Right to Buy if they want City Hall funding. He says he will work with associations “to keep their rents down”.
He has pledged homes for social rent, along with homes for Living Rent (rents based on one-third of average local wages), homes for shared ownership and market sale. He says he would give “first dibs” to Londoners looking to buy.
Mr Khan said: “Londoners are increasingly spending longer, and spending more, with little prospect of being able to save for a deposit.”
Mr Khan’s manifesto also includes measures to help private renters, including a not-for-profit lettings agency and the promotion of landlord licensing schemes.
AT A GLANCE: MR KHAN’S HOUSING MANIFESTO
- Setting up Homes for Londoners team
- Building homes for social rent, London Living Rent, part-buy part-rent, and market sale
- Building on land owned by the mayor, including Transport for London land, and bidding to develop other public sector land
- Set clear guidelines for which developments the mayor will ‘call in’
- Support councils to enforce clear, new rules to maximise the affordable housing in new developments, with greater transparency around viability assessments, and the option to set local affordable housing targets
- Work with social landlords to help them invest their land and resources effectively, including Right to Buy receipts
- Using public land creatively to generate future income
- Attract institutional investors, pension and other investment funds to finance homes for long-term, secure rent
- Invest more in new homes, with prudential borrowing powers for councils to invest in new affordable housing, and the mayor taking the lead developing public land
- Exercising ‘use it or lose it’ powers to make sure developers who have planning permission build homes and do not land-bank
- Supporting ‘tenure-blind’ development, avoiding the use of ‘poor doors’
- Prioritising development on brownfield land to protect the green belt
- Setting up a London-wide lettings agency
- Working to promote landlord licensing scheme
- Naming and shaming ‘rogue’ landlords
