The Government announced plans to tackle London’s housing crisis with a record £3.15 billion to build 90,000 affordable homes by mid 2021.
Chancellor Philip Hammond has also relaxed restrictions so that the cash can be used to support low-cost rents and shared ownership schemes.
Sadiq Khan welcomed the investment, the highest ever secured for housing by City Hall, but warned Londoners they faced “a marathon not a sprint”.
The Mayor will use it for housing tenures including those with below-market rents for low-income Londoners and homes with rents set at no more than a third of average local income for middle earners.
In addition, there will be more shared ownership homes to help Londoners who want to buy but can’t afford the open market.
The extra funding means that London’s Affordable Homes Programme will go up from £1.07 billion in 2015-18, negotiated by former Mayor Boris Johnson, to £3.15 billion in 2015-2021.
Housing experts believe the capital needs to be building at least 50,000 new homes a year to sustain a population set to grow to ten million by 2036. City Hall wants half of them to be genuinely affordable.
Mr Khan said: “I have been honest from the outset that fixing the housing crisis will be a marathon and not a sprint and I will do everything in my power to help Londoners buy or rent in the capital – something that should be a right and not a privilege.
“This investment will allow us to provide a range of different affordable homes, boosting the overall numbers being built in London and crucially delivering the new and genuinely affordable homes Londoners so badly need.”
City Hall and the capital’s town halls will also get control of the adult education budget and long called for powers over employment support services.
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