London gets ?3.15bn Affordable Homes Programme

During his Autumn Statement speech in the House of Commons today, chancellor Philip Hammond said the country?s ?housing challenge? is an ?urgent issue? because it affects national productivity.

Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, said the cash was ?the largest sum of money ever secured by City Hall to deliver affordable housing?.

He said rules surrounding the use of the funding had been relaxed, and it will be used to fund ?homes for low-cost rent, London Living Rent, and shared ownership? between now and 2021. London Living Rent is set at 35% of local wages.

Inside Housing reported this morning that ?1.4bn will be made available to deliver 40,000 homes nationwide and the government will relax the rules around affordable housing funding so providers can build a variety of tenures.

It is believed more details will be released by the Greater London Authority (GLA) next week, with funding guidance published ?as soon as possible?.

Mr Khan said: ?I?m delighted that we today took the first steps towards a major new devolution deal for London. London has a bigger population than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland combined, but we have far less control over how our city is run.

?The record-breaking affordable housing settlement means we can get on with the hard slog of building new genuinely affordable homes, but it won?t happen overnight ? fixing the housing crisis will be a marathon and not a sprint.?

Labour City Hall assembly member Tom Copley, said: ?This is a huge victory for the mayor, who has secured the biggest ever affordable house building settlement for London from the government. He has lobbied extensively for more money for affordable homes, whilst his predecessor allowed the housing crisis to become entrenched.?

Speaking at a Resi Investments conference in London, Jamie Ratcliff, assistant director of programmes at the GLA, said: ?Now our funding settlement with Government is confirmed we will move to publish funding guidance as soon as possible. This will enable us to provide housing associations with muscular backing to deliver many more genuinely affordable homes for Londoners.?

Paul Hackett, chief executive of Amicus Horizon and deputy chair of the G15, said: ?The messages I?ve been picking up is that the relationship between Greater London Authority and the Department for Communities and Local Government is very good, and the relationship between the deputy mayor and Gavin Barwell is very good. Their objectives are very much aligned.?