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Brokenshire slams GLA’s affordable housing record
Housing secretary James Brokenshire has criticised the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) track record on delivering new homes, saying it needed to “urgently pick up” the number of affordable homes being built across the capital.
Mr Brokenshire said he had been disappointed by the number of homes delivered in London in recent years, and that Londoners were “paying the price” for the GLA’s poor performance.
Speaking at London First’s Building London Summit yesterday, Mr Brokenshire said: “We now need to see the GLA also stepping up.
“We want to see the GLA urgently picking up the pace and deliver against their programme targets on the Affordable Homes Programme as well as the new land funds.”
It is despite Sadiq Khan delivering 12,555 affordable homes through his programme in 2017/18 – above the 12,500 target agreed with the department and the highest figure in any single year since devolution.
The housing secretary also raised concerns over the mayor’s draft London Plan, and said his department would be following up on these concerns through the Examination in Public phase of the plan.
James Murray, the deputy mayor for housing at the GLA, hit back at the housing secretary’s comments, calling it a “desperate attempt at political distraction”.
He said the secretary had a “track record” of blocking plans for new homes, including for social rent, and stressed that the GLA had delivered more social and affordable homes than ever before.
Mr Murray said: “The minister knows that the mayor has hit every single target for affordable housing that were agreed by his own department, and that his colleagues’ handling of Brexit has made fixing the housing crisis even tougher.”
In October the London Assembly housing committee accused him of falling short on his affordable housing promises, and that the number of housing starts was well behind where it needed to be.
In his speech yesterday, Mr Brokenshire highlighted what he called “disappointing” numbers of net additional homes recorded by London council’s last year.
Net additions in the capital dropped by 20% when compared with the previous year, while 21 boroughs saw their annual supply numbers fall.
He said: “London’s boroughs can and must also lead the charge – both individually and by working together across boundaries – to match the record of those such as Croydon, Westminster and Wandsworth, which are going the extra mile to build more homes.”
