Labour to give London more social homes says Rayner as she outlines plan to tackle waiting lists

Labour's deputy leader and shadow housing minister, Angela Rayner, has said her party would seek to tackle London's housing supply problem as hundreds of thousands sit on housing waiting lists. Speaking to MyLondon at the Westway Trust in North Kensington on Thursday afternoon (June 20), Ms Rayner also said that getting rid of Section 21 'no fault' eviction notices would help cut the number of people left homeless in the city.

But with tens of thousands even within individual London boroughs on waiting lists, with thousands of those in unsuitable temporary accommodation, MyLondon asked her about shorter-term solutions. Ms Rayner said that she would work with Sadiq Khan to oversee the building of more social housing. "We have to deal with the supply problem that we have got as well, and that's why we've got a programme to build more social houses. With a Labour government," she said, "working with [City Hall] to deliver that, I think we can tackle homelessness [...] and also make sure that people can get the houses they deserve.

"That security is very important. It affects families, it affects your job, it affects every respect of your life." She then described house building 'in terms of growing the economy' as a 'number one issue' for the party, and Labour would 'deal with the planning situation'.

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After being asked how long it would take to get the numbers on waiting lists down, Ms Rayner did not provide a timescale. Former Labour MP Matthew Pennycook, who was with Ms Rayner, said that the party could 'do things around' empty homes as well.

According to Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government data, London had the highest social housing waiting list among English regions again in 2023, SWLondoner reports. Mid-year figures found there were 323,827 households on local authority waiting lists in the city. London also had the highest number of households on waiting list per 100,000 people.

'More strategic approach' to green belt release

Labour says in its manifesto that it would 'take a more strategic approach to green belt land designation and release to build more homes in the right places'. The party adds: "The release of lower quality 'grey belt' land will be prioritised and we will introduce 'golden rules' to ensure development benefits communities and nature."

But the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has previously said that he intends to stop 'inappropriate attempts to de-designate the green belt', and that 'boundaries should be changed only in exceptional circumstances'. He told the London Assembly in 2021 : "My London Plan clearly states that the green belt should be protected from inappropriate development.

"However, the National Planning Policy Framework does allow development on the green belt if very special circumstances can be demonstrated. The same applies to boroughs proposing to remove green belt designations in their local plans."

Mr Khan's deputy mayor for housing, Tom Copley, said in a speech on June 5: "There are a number of changes we could make to some of our planning rules to make them more flexible and more predictable – for example clearer rules on developing small brownfield sites. But we also need a richer understanding of what we need to do to get building at the scale needed, especially at a moment like this, where there is an acute downturn."

Tories promise 'record number of homes each year'

The Tories have said that they would 'delivering a record number of homes each year on brownfield land in urban areas'. The party added in its manifesto: "We will do this by providing a fast track route through the planning system for new homes on previously developed land in the 20 largest cities.

"Strong design codes will ensure this enables the gentle densification of urban areas, with new family homes and mansion-blocks on treelined streets built in the local character. We will look at extending ‘full expensing' to the delivery of brownfield housing.

"Raising density levels in inner London to those of European cities like Paris and Barcelona. We will ensure the London Plan delivers more family homes a year, forcing the Mayor to plan for more homes on brownfield sites, like underused industrial land. We will regenerate major sites like Euston, Old Oak Common and Thamesmead."

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