Khan announces deals for thousands of new council homes

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has agreed a new deal with the government to fund thousands of council and other genuinely affordable homes for Londoners over the next five years.

It is hoped that the new 2021-26 affordable homes programme will see 79,000 new homes started over the next five years.

In London, there were more new council homes started in 2019/20 than in any year since 1983. This bidding round cements the council housing comeback in London, with more than four in ten of the homes being built by councils, totalling 12,024 homes. More than half of the social rented homes will be built by councils.

Sadiq Khan has set ambitious targets for London to be a zero-carbon city by 2030 and expects homes built with funding announced today to be environmentally sustainable. New standards introduced in the Mayor’s New London Plan include requirements for all developments of ten or more homes to be net zero-carbon and to incorporate sustainable urban green spaces.

Khan said: “I am delighted that we have been able to come to a deal with the government to get started on nearly 30,000 genuinely affordable homes. Over the last five years I have overseen a council homes renaissance in London thanks to our relentless focus on giving boroughs the funding and expertise they need to build. I’m pleased to see this is now paying off with more than half the homes being funded at social rent levels in this deal being built by councils.

“All Londoners deserve a safe, secure home with enough space to live comfortably, and private outside space to enjoy fresh air. I want to deliver a new generation of genuinely affordable housing in London that sets the standard nationally when it comes to excellent design, safety and sustainability.

“Today’s funding is good news but I know we can still go further, faster, working with ministers, housing associations and councils to deliver more of the homes Londoners so desperately need.”