LONDON’S LABOUR Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has been given a seat in the House of Lords by Keir Starmer – but he is not receiving awards for good behaviour from London boroughs.

A few weeks ago Khan came out with another example of the ridiculous logic of the Labour Government. He pointed out that there is not enough affordable housing in London, so we need developers to build some more. His previous policy was that developers should include a minimum of 35% of affordable housing in new developments. Developers said they could not afford to do that – so Khan reduced the percentage of affordable homes they need to build to 20% of their developments.

That kind of break would suit developers down to the ground: they don’t care who buys their homes. It matters to tenants, though. Most workers in the capital can’t afford to buy new-build homes. Private landlords are the only people who cam buy them, and they then rent them out to tenants – at unaffordable rents, which keeps the affordable housing crisis going.

When the announcement came, three borough Mayors – Mayor Lutfur Rahman from Tower Hamlets, and the mayors of Hackney and Lewisham – knew they had to stand up for tenants who need affordable housing. They launched legal action to try to stop Khan’s bizarre decision, which was supported by four other London Councils. The decision was quickly amended – by excluding some London Boroughs from the new requirements.

Mayor Lutfur Rahman made the point that local Councils should have the freedom to decide their own housing targets – without their newbuild affordable homes being clogged up by unaffordable homes. He also pointed out that new social homes save Councils money, because they don’t have to pay housing benefit to cover high private rents. Khan doesn't seem to have spotted these issues before he made his ruling.

Mayor Lutfur Rahman made the following statement about the success of the legal challenge.

“Today’s announcement demonstrates the impact of our legal challenge to stop the Mayor of London slashing the affordable housing quota from 35% to just 20%. Just weeks after we launched legal proceedings, City Hall has made this concession, accepting the fundamental premise of the arguments we have advanced in our Judicial Review claim, brought jointly with Hackney and Lewisham councils and backed by seven councils across London. 

“City Hall is now recognising the benefits of allowing councils to set ambitious affordable housing targets that reflect local circumstances and acknowledging the high levels of affordable housing already being delivered by boroughs such as Tower Hamlets. This is precisely what would be prevented by a blanket cut to 20%."

“However, these proposals do not go far enough. Without any clear justification, City Hall would still press ahead with its devastating ‘emergency measures’ until 2028. That would mean losing thousands of affordable homes over the next two years - homes which, once lost, we will never get back, while hundreds of thousands of families languish on housing waiting lists and one million Londoners are trapped in overcrowded or uninhabitable accommodation.   

“We remain ready to engage constructively with the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority. We will continue to stand up for the principle that major planning policy changes must be subject to proper scrutiny, meaningful consultation and democratic accountability. At a time when one in every 21 children in London is homeless – at least one homeless child in every classroom – we cannot stand by while developers’ profits are prioritised over the genuinely affordable homes our communities so desperately need.”

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