G15 calls for ‘Affordable Housing Commission’ as starts in London drop 76%

In an attack on the government’s approach, the letter said: “Despite the crisis facing Londoners, the government has failed to step up and invest in the delivery of social housing.

“Insufficient sustainable funding, among many structural issues, is a critical reason why housing is in crisis in our capital city.”

Landlords continue to face a perfect storm of financial challenges, including high interest rates, inflation and tackling building safety and decarbonisation. A heightened focus on housing conditions has also caused organisations to ramp up their spending on existing stock.

As a result, the writers of the letter said an “expert body” should be created to end the problem of “short-termism” that has “dominated” housing policy.

An Affordable Housing Commission should “set housebuilding targets aligned with the best evidence and hold government accountable to delivering them”, the groups said.

The housing sector has long expressed frustration at the revolving door of housing ministers, with 15 people having held the role in the past 14 years.

The letter also said one in four Londoners live in poverty when housing costs are taken into account. 

But it warned: “The building of new homes in the capital is grinding to a halt.” 

Earlier this month, Inside Housing reported that L&Q’s starts alone had slid 82% in its year to date, to 351.

The letter also renewed calls for the government to commit to build 90,000 social homes a year, of which the groups said 30,000 should be in London.

To help fund this, the government should commit £15.1bn a year to the Affordable Homes Programme, using 10-year terms to provide “investment stability”, they said.

Overall, G15 landlords have cut their development pipelines, covering all tenures and including areas outside London, from 14,658 homes last year to 6,387 in the current financial year, the letter revealed.

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “We have laid out an ambitious long-term plan for housing to ensure we deliver the homes that local communities want and need.

“This includes our £11.5bn Affordable Homes Programme, which is on track to deliver its target of building around 250,000 affordable homes.

“And we have recently announced a £3bn boost to the Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme, which will deliver 20,000 new affordable homes across the country.”