The Mayor of London has announced that more than 8,000 new homes have been started through his Land Fund – reaching the target five years early, with several key projects in North London.
Examples include finance to help Peabody Trust deliver nearly 1,000 homes on the former Holloway Prison site in Islington, acquiring surplus land on hospital sites in Enfield and Haringey that could provide up to 1,000 homes, and supporting build-to-rent homes in the Old Oak and Park Royal area.
The Land Fund, launched in 2017, was designed to speed up housebuilding across the capital by allowing City Hall to buy land and provide financing directly to developers and partners.
Last year, London completed just over 11,600 homes, with nearly 6,700 of them affordable homes at social rent levels – the highest figure in a decade.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: The innovative Land Fund has enabled us to tackle the housing crisis head on, starting more than 8,000 new homes five years ahead of schedule. I am proud that nearly 6,700 affordable homes at social rent levels were completed last year, which is the highest in a decade.
“But we know there is more work to do to fix the housing crisis in London. I’m pleased that the Government has committed to work with me to establish the City Hall Developer Investment Fund to unlock further housing in London. I will continue to work closely with them to secure even more national support to help build the level of new housing London needs, as we build a better, fairer London for everyone.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner, said: “We’re facing a housing crisis which has stopped our young people from achieving the dream of homeownership, especially in London where there is a real demand to build the affordable homes we need.
“That’s why we welcome the Mayor of London pushing ahead to build these homes, and we will continue to work hand-in-hand with him to deliver on our stretching target of 1.5 million homes through our Plan for Change.”
Despite the milestone, City Hall says London still needs 88,000 new homes every year for the next decade to meet demand – a figure never reached before.
Chris Mitchell is the founder and editor of Harrow Online, Harrow’s leading local news platform.
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