Sadiq Khan fails to build any social housing in year as Mayor

Sadiq Khan has failed to build any social housing in London in the past 12 months despite promising to construct thousands of houses every year during his election campaign.

Figures show no construction began for homes at social rent levels in 2016/17 and none has been built since the beginning of the financial year for 2017/18.

Siân Berry, Green Party leader on the London Assembly, said it was a “disaster” and council housing had basically “ground to a halt”.

During Mayor’s Question Time at City Hall, Mr Khan said London had inherited the legacy of Boris Johnson but his own £3.15 billion deal with the Government would mean more affordable homes will be available for Londoners in two years’ time.

Of the 90,000 homes planned by 2021, 17,500 will be available at around social rent levels. He said: “The average is two years from inception to work starting, so we are trying to speed things up. I’m afraid the bad news is it will be a marathon, not a sprint. It takes some time for homes to be built. I’m afraid for at least two or three years or longer you’ll be seeing the consequences of the previous mayor’s policies.”

A spokesman for the Mayor said he had inherited a “chronic lack” of genuinely affordable housing from Mr Johnson, with just 13 per cent affordable housing in the pipeline.

Conservative assembly member An-drew Boff suggested Mr Khan had broken his promise of building thousands more homes every year.

Under Mr Johnson, the Greater London Authority began work on 336 social rent homes in 2015/16 and 1,067 in 2014/15. The highest point for construction of social housing was in 2009/10 where work started on 10,633 homes.