London mayor plans 32,000 new homes

London mayor Boris Johnson has today announced plans to create an extra 32,000 social homes above and beyond the government's existing target.

Johnson has requested an audit to establish how much land is owned by authorities such as Transport for London, the London Development Agency and the London Fire and Emergency Planning Agency, which could potentially be used as development sites.

The mayor has also unveiled the set up of a new company which will offer planning help and expertise to local authorities wanting to bring their land forward for development.

The mayor says London’s developers and property investors face a number of obstacles including raising funding for construction and falling land values rendering g many housing schemes unviable.

He says there is an urgent need to consider new ways to public sector investment more effectively and for more imaginative means of bringing in private financial resources to invest in new homes in the capital.

More than 30,000 new homes could be created in the capital by freeing up underused land owned by the Greater London Authority (GLA) alone, Johnson told the Housing Investment Summit.

“We’re already on track to deliver 50,000 affordable homes which will benefit thousands of Londoners but this success cannot be an excuse to take our foot off the pedal. We have to set our sights to the future and start working now to deliver the next 50,000 and the 50,000 after that.

“The GLA is sitting on hundreds of potential housing sites that could be used to build more than 32,000 new homes and I know we’re not alone. London’s councils, private institutions and HCA can all do the same but the cost and red tape involved is suffocating.”