The Mayor has today announced 335 new affordable homes to be built in Camden as part of £1.7 billion deal with local authorities and housing associations
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today announced a £1.7 billion deal between City Hall and London’s housing associations and councils. Camden will receive £7,360,000 investment from the GLA, equal to 335 new homes in the borough.
Neighbouring Haringey will receive just short of £13 million for 528 homes whilst Hackney will receive 72 homes for £2.5 million.
Newham is to receive the most homes with £40 million funding for almost 2,000 new dwellings, whilst Westminster will build 105 homes but receive no funding. Almost half of the forthcoming homes already have allocated sites.
Across the capital, 50,000 genuinely affordable new homes will be built for rent and sale thanks to the deal, representing nearly three times that secured by Mr Khan’s predecessor, Boris Johnson. The Mayor called for bids to deliver the record-breaking £3.15bn affordable homes fund Mr Khan secured in November.
17,500 homes will be for tenure at social rent levels, whilst 32,000 will be marketed at either London Living Rent or Shared Ownership levels. London Living Rent offers rents at a third of the cost of gross local household incomes.
Every borough is to receive funding over the next for years. Homes are to be delivered by 44 housing providers and nine London councils.
In Camden, some of the organisations operating include Octavia Housing, One Housing Group, the Peabody Trust and Genesis. Eight new strategic partnerships will deliver at least 60 per cent affordable housing on all their sites, equivalent to 38,500 genuinely affordable homes.
The Mayor of London said: “I want to see everyone playing their part in tackling the housing crisis in London, because it is simply unacceptable that Londoners continue to be priced out of a city they call home.
“We know that solving the housing crisis is not going to happen overnight, but I very much welcome so many housing associations and councils matching my ambition by committing to build the new and genuinely affordable homes Londoners so desperately need.
“I am delighted that we have set a City Hall record for the number of homes allocated funding - but I am clear that we have got much more to do to secure the land we need to build homes and ensure we have sufficient capacity in the construction industry.”
The Mayor was keen to point out that all homes will meet the requirements of the London Plan, and will feature safety standards including sprinklers and fire alarms.
Paul Hackett, chair of the G15 representing London’s largest housing associations, said: “The commitment from London’s housing associations is an unprecedented level of ambition to build the homes the capital needs. The partnership with the Mayor is the biggest London’s housing associations have ever committed to, reflecting the urgency of the housing crisis and our strong relationship with City Hall.”
Cllr Pat Callaghan, cabinet member for housing at Camden Council, added:“Through our Community Investment Programme, Camden Council is building 3,050 new homes, including 1,400 affordable homes and has funding support from the GLA for the existing programme. Today’s announcement from the Mayor of London shows the welcome contribution that councils, housing associations and City Hall are making to tackling London’s housing crisis.
“Camden Council has strong relationships with housing associations in the borough and we welcome the allocation of funds to them today. We support the GLA’s increased funding offer to stimulate new affordable housing and look forward to applying to future funding rounds as we develop new CIP projects in consultation with local people.”
In addition to the homes announced today, 30,000 homes will be delivered thanks to earlier bids, and with £446 million remaining for the next round of bidding, the Mayor is working towards his target of starting works on 90,000 affordable homes by 2021.
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