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Starts at major London council plummet 96% in one year
The number of starts made by a London council has dropped 96% year on year, new data has shown.
According to data collected by the Liberal Democrats, Labour-controlled Southwark Council made just 28 starts in 2023-24 compared with 684 in the previous period. All 28 home starts were in the ward of Peckham Rye.
The opposition party also raised concerns over the number of completed homes.
“Fewer than half of the council homes started since 2017-18 have been completed by last year at just 45%, raising questions about the Labour administration’s attempts to boast about its record using starts data,” a Liberal Democrat spokesperson said.
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According to the data, collected via queries with council officers, Southwark council made 897 starts in 2021-22 and 320 in 2020-21.
The 28 home starts in 2023-24 mark the lowest number of starts in the data collected, far below the next lowest total of 104, which was recorded in 2017-18.
Southwark currently has 17,700 households are on the housing waiting list, as at January 2024.
Rachel Bentley, deputy leader of the Southwark Liberal Democrats, said: “These figures show that the boasting we hear from Labour is just smoke and mirrors
“People are stuck between the twin nightmares of the Conservatives crashing the economy and the mismanagement of local housebuilding by Labour.”
In response, a Southwark council spokesperson said: “Since May 2022 we have completed 661 new council homes. At this moment, a further 1,571 are under active construction."
"Due to unforeseen economic circumstances, from late 2022, leading to high levels of inflation and borrowing, and associated increased costs in supply chains, we had to pause a number of planned developments. Some work also had to be paused to ensure it complied with new safety regulations," the spokesperson said.
"It was a very difficult decision, but not to have so done would have been economically irresponsible on behalf of rent- and council tax-payers."
They added that the council remained committed to delivering its target of 11,000 council homes in Southwark by 2043.
Kieron Williams, leader of Southwark Council, said: “Labour is building more council homes in Southwark than any other council in the country, with over 3,000 built or under construction.
“We’d be building more if this disastrous Tory government hadn’t crashed our economy, sending the cost of building soaring. However, it is complete nonsense to say we’ve stopped building when we have over one and a half thousand new council homes on site being built today.”
Mr Williams added: “If the Lib Dems really cared about building homes people can afford, they would be celebrating our borough’s successes. But it is no surprise they are not when they have not committed to building a single council home in their last three manifestos.”
In March, Southwark Council admitted it needs to “do more” to tackle residents’ concerns after the Liberal Democrats said it should refer itself to the Regulator of Social Housing.
This followed the news in October 2023 that the council had suffered a setback in its plans to build 11,000 new council homes over the next two decades, after it emerged that its housing budget was forecast for a £13.8m deficit.
A report brought to council leaders highlighted that rising inflation and interest rate increases had “started to take their toll” on Southwark’s Housing Revenue Account. The report outlined how the deficit would limit the Southwark’s ability to deliver its pledge of 11,000 new council homes by 2043.
In September, Southwark Council had to scrap a 25-home development because it could not find a way to add a second staircase.
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