London council should partner with institutional funders to deliver homes faster, taskforce says

It urged the council to monitor where private landlords are quitting the sector or moving to short-term lets, agree criteria for buying these and expand the number of homes it lets at or below Local Housing Allowance (LHA) level to increase the supply of temporary accommodation.

It also suggested new ways the council should be working to secure low-cost, intermediate and temporary housing, including through joint ventures with registered providers (RPs), house builders and institutional investors.

Other recommendations in this area included putting in measures to bring forward more small sites and cracking down on short-term and holiday lets, which are placing “growing pressure” on the amount of available housing.

On the latter, the group suggested the council should work with RPs, private landlords and short-term letting platforms to create a borough-wide approach which could be rolled out more widely across the capital.

The report also focused on the types of housing needed in Camden, and highlighted a drop in the number of families with children in the borough due to high housing costs and a shortage of larger affordable homes.

It suggested the council focus on intermediate rent, which is not always accessible to people who do not qualify for social rent but are priced out of private homes.

The group of experts said the council should work with the Greater London Authority (GLA) to review the current £67,000 income cap on intermediate rents, as this is far below what households would need to afford to rent privately in the borough.

It added that Camden should look into improving rightsizing options for social tenants who are older or under-occupying their homes, which may include working with RPs, adult social care and health groups.

Purpose-built student accommodation and co-living housing were also flagged as areas to focus on, as these could help free up private rented homes.

Ms Djemai said: “Camden is at the sharp end of London’s housing crisis, with rising homelessness and growing temporary accommodation pressures continuing to affect residents and council services.

“One in 50 Londoners are currently in temporary accommodation and in Camden there are over 8,000 people on our housing waiting list, with 70% of families in council homes living in overcrowded conditions.

“We must take action to urgently build more high-quality, affordable housing and address the ongoing housing crisis in Camden and across London.

“That’s why I called for the Housing Delivery Taskforce to be commissioned, to bring together the expertise, ideas and partnerships we need to deliver more of the right homes for our residents and support the thousands of residents in housing need.”

The taskforce’s report will go before councillors next week and has been published alongside a separate report on the housing crisis in the borough.

Last year, Camden Council ranked 24th in Inside Housing’s annual look at the top 50 biggest council builders for 2024-25.

The authority, which owns around 22,800 homes, completed 169 homes last financial year and is forecasting that it will build 1,100 homes within the next five years.