GLA allocates £1.7bn of grant funding for 50,000 homes

These involve the mayor committing to provide grant funding on a flexible basis through to 2021, with the associations committing to make 60% of their development pipelines affordable.

The largest slug of funding is £394.7m given to L&Q for 11,610 affordable homes, with a total of £1.26bn – 74% of the funding – split between these eight large providers.

The remainder of the cash is split between housing associations of various sizes and nine London boroughs – including Croydon Council’s wholly-owned company Brick by Brick (see table).

The funding will be used in confirmed projects in every London borough, with 27,085 yet to be allocated to a location. Of those allocated so far, the largest number of homes will be built in Newham, which will receive 1,911.

Mr Khan’s Affordable Homes Programme funds three tenures of housing for social rent – between £144 per week for one-bed and £187 per week for six or more – shared ownership and London Living Rent, a rent-to-buy product with rents at one-third of median local incomes.

The funding allocated today will see 17,000 social rented and 32,000 Living Rent and shared ownership products built. Providers are being given the flexibility to swap homes between Living Rent and shared ownership depending on local circumstances when homes are completed.

The take-up in the first round of allocations is in sharp contrast to the start of Boris Johnson’s last programme in 2014, which was heavily undersubscribed and saw funding allocated to just 18,000 homes.

A further £446m will be made available when bidding re-opens later this year.

Mr Khan said: “We know that solving the housing crisis is not going to happen overnight, but I very much welcome so many housing associations and councils matching my ambition by committing to build the new and genuinely affordable homes Londoners so desperately need.”

Paul Hackett, chair of the G15 group of large London landlords, said the funding reflects “the urgency of the housing crisis and our strong relationship with City Hall”.

Sir Steve Bullock, chair of London Councils, said the package “will provide much-needed additional support” for developing councils and associations.

Statistics for the last financial year showed 9,690 Greater London Authority (GLA)-funded homes – down on the 12,913 delivered in Mr Johnson’s final year as mayor.