London campaigners launch £700k campaign for affordable housing

Charitable foundation Trust for London and national community organising charity Citizens UK will jointly fund the campaign over four years.

The campaign will focus on increasing the amount of affordable housing in the Olympic Park, involving residents in estate regeneration at Broadwater Farm in Tottenham, tackling rogue landlords in the private rented sector and pushing for more affordable housing at the Old Oak Common development site.

Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, has set out a “long-term strategic target” for 35% affordable housing on all developments in the capital. Recent research from Citizens UK revealed six out of the eight biggest developers in London are not meeting this 35% target.

The campaign will also focus on holding developers to account for the amount of affordable housing they provide and lobbying councils and the government to improve housing for Londoners on low incomes.

Local campaigners will be supported to engage with housing and planning issues in their areas, and to challenge bad practice by developers, landlords and councils.

Matthew Bolton, deputy director of Citizens UK, said: “London is facing an affordable housing crisis that our local community membership experiences on a daily basis. We are excited to be working with Trust for London to turn that anger and frustration into positive community action.”

Bharat Mehta, chief executive of Trust for London, said: “For too long the housing debate has been dominated by developers, politicians, policymakers and academics, while those directly affected by housing problems in the capital have been only superficially involved. We hope this flagship initiative will act as a catalyst to change that.”