Mayor of London secures £4bn affordable homes programme

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has secured a four-year affordable homes programme worth over £4bn for London.

This includes a substantial £1.7bn affordable housing settlement for this spending round that will unlock a further £2.5bn of private investment and will complete 53,000 affordable homes in the capital by 2015.

The programme will provide homes for around 250,000 Londoners and will provide a range of rents.

The Government’s new Affordable Rent programme now allows registered housing providers to charge up to 80 per cent of market rent, but the Mayor has secured an agreement that rents in London will only be charged at an average of 65 per cent of market rent, and will not exceed new benefit caps.

The 2011-15 programme will deliver a significant proportion of family-sized affordable housing and a wide range of locally supported housing and regeneration priorities.

It will also see a borough-led new build programme in Camden, Hackney, Newham, Wandsworth, Hillingdon, Ealing and Barking and Dagenham. The new homes will meet the Mayor's Housing Design Standards, and contractors will be encouraged to pay the London Living Wage.

Johnson, said: "This new programme will provide a major boost to London's construction sector which is so important to the capital and the UK ’s economy, securing thousands of jobs and new training opportunities."

Further information:
Mayor of London