An ambitious plan to deliver 270,000 new affordable homes in the capital by 2018 has been set out by Liberal Democrat London Assembly Members Stephen Knight and Caroline Pidgeon in a recent report. The plans set out to turn around the total failure over the last 35 years to build a sufficient number of affordable homes in the capital, leading to not only soaring rents but also a soaring Housing Benefit bill.
The bold proposals highlight seven changes in policy that are needed, relating to London boroughs, the Mayor and central Government.
Setting out the key recommendations of the report, Caroline said:
“This report is about addressing the abject failure over the last 35 years to build anything like enough affordable homes.”
“There is now an overwhelming economic case for investment in new affordable homes in London.
“Capital investment funded by public borrowing is economically sound. At a time when finance is cheap and spare capacity exists in the construction sector it makes absolute sense to borrow to build. It would be criminal to not take advantage of these favourable circumstances.
“This programme is also about jobs. As the unemployment figures only last week confirm London still has unemployment levels which remain stubbornly high in far too many places. This plan would directly create an additional 135,000 sustained jobs in the construction sector alone. However, the economic benefits will also be much wider as the lack of affordable housing is one of the biggest constraints facing businesses across the capital. As the CBI are the first to point out the shortage of affordable homes is now the biggest break on the region’s economy.
“And in addition to being good economics, there is also a strong social case for action. It is a blight on the capital that last night 41,000 households were living in emergency temporary housing and that one in four of London children were living in overcrowded homes.”
The report’s main recommendations:
Mayor to double his investment in affordable homes by borrowing against the Greater London Authority’s £11.2bn annual revenue budget under prudential borrowing rules.
The Mayor to use most, if not all, GLA-owned land for affordable homes.
Government to scrap the Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap, enabling the London boroughs to invest in affordable housing under prudential borrowing rules.
Government to increase its investment in affordable homes, shifting the balance of its spending from housing benefit to bricks and mortar.
Devolution of responsibility for Skills Funding Agency money for London to the Mayor, so that it can be better focused on addressing local needs.
A package of measures to help SMEs in the construction sector take advantage of the work generated by the programme.
The Mayor to act as a one stop shop for construction apprenticeships, streamlining the process for SMEs in particular and providing career development for apprentices.
You can read the full report here.
Photo: Vince Cable lending his support to the launch of the Affordable Homes And Jobs For London report from the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group