Mayor of London also backed scheme to help renters onto housing ladder
Sadiq Khan has come out in support of a ten-year rent settlement and rent convergence for the social housing sector.
During a session of Mayor’s Question Time, Conservative member Shaun Bailey asked the mayor of London whether he supported the two measures being included in the spending review, as well as seed funding for estate regeneration and access to cladding remuneration schemes.
After Khan answered with a simple “yes”, Lord Bailey then asked whether he would support a scheme which would see regular rental payments taken into account when they’re paying for a mortgage, which the mayor also gave his backing to.
“I think it’s a cracking idea,” said the mayor.
“Look, people have been great tenants, often for a long time, and it’s not taken into account. And I think it’s a way of rewarding good behavior, but also not penalizing somebody who is renting”.
Khan also used the meeting at City Hall to set out parts of his pitch to the government for the spending review, which included asking for a developer investment fund to unlock 23,000 homes by 2029.
>> Read more: Khan sets out 10-year London Growth Plan in bid to ‘unlock’ 60,000 homes
“Early analysis suggests that [for] every one pound of public money provided through this fund, up to nine pounds of private investment could be leveraged in,” he said.
The mayor attended the MIPIM festival in Cannes, France, last week, seeking to attract private investment for affordable homes and infrastructure in the capital.
He was promoting an investment prospectus called ‘Opportunity London’, which detailed 20 live investment opportunities, including student accommodation, build-to-rent, offices, logistics, urban sciences and leisure developments.
Khan’s comments follow the publication of Housing Today and G15’s State of the Capital report on Tuesday calling for measures to boost affordable housing in London.
The report calls for a new amortised grant funding model that could help London’s housing associations commit to development while making it easier for the cash-strapped government to invest in affordable housing.
It also calls for affordable housing to be reclassified as national infrastructure, rent convergence to be re-introduced and for social landlords to have easier access to the Building Safety Fund. It calls for government to take a holistic view of funding and rent policy, implement a joint funding pot for grant to improve existing homes and calls for national policies to take into account regional costs and skills shortages.
Housing Today and G15’s State of the Capital report
Providing new social tenancies for the 323,800 households on London’s waiting lists would inject at least an additional £7.7bn a year into London and the UK’s economy.
However, while social housing providers and ministers are both aware of the need for more affordable housing, both housing associations and the government have balance sheets constraints.
This inaugural State of the Capital report, produced by Housing Today in partnership with G15, looks at several ideas that could be adopted to help the sector build much-needed affordable housing in London during these difficult times.
The report is written by Carl Brown of Housing Today, in collaboration with the G15.
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