Sadiq Khan torn apart over ‘unacceptable’ housing numbers as just 2% of target met

The Tories are demanding that the Government place Sadiq Khan under ‘special measures’ as they number of new affordable housing starts in London last quarter were an abysmal 71.

New stats from the Greater London Assembly, published yesterday, showed that despite a housing crisis in the capital, Sadiq Khan started just 150 affordable homes during the last quarter, and completed fewer than half that number.

The abysmal figures come despite the Mayor needing to deliver approximately 3,000 new affordable homes every quarter in order to meet his target of building 25,000 affordable homes in the next two years.

According to these figures, therefore, Mr Khan achieved just 2.3% of his quarterly housing target.

In a letter to Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, the Tories’ housing spokesman in London Lord Bailey has demanded that she now put party political differences aside and intervene for the sake of struggling Londoners.

Lord Bailey notes that the new Labour Government has been “absolutely clear that it is your priority as Secretary of State and Deputy Prime Minister to increase the number of homes built across the country”.

Reacting to the new housing start figures, Lord Bailey says they are “clearly unacceptably low, and are inconsistent with the housebuilding ambitions of both your department and the manifesto on which the Labour government was elected on last month”.

He said: “Over the last eight years, the Mayor of London has consistently demonstrated that he is unable to meet the scale of London’s housing challenges, with the number of new homes built in the capital falling to record lows under Sadiq Khan’s leadership.

“We are, therefore, urging you to use your powers as Secretary of State to place the Mayor of London and the GLA in special measures.

“Without tailored support and additional oversight from your department, sadly it is abundantly clear that Sadiq Khan will not be able to deliver the number of homes London requires, and that targets alone are no longer enough to tackle the scale of the problem.

"Given how significant this is for so many people, I genuinely hope that we are able to put political differences aside and give Londoners the best possible chance of having a home of their own.”

A blog post by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in July, after Labour had taken power, accused housebuilding in London of having “fallen well short of what is needed”, despite Sadiq Khan’s insistence he is doing enough.

Ms Rayner’s department said she is “committed to working in partnership with the Mayor of London and the GLA to turn this around”.

Responding to Lord Bailey’s letter this morning, a spokesman for Mr Khan claimed: “The mayor has hit every Affordable Homes Programme target he has been set, including the landmark target of building 116,000 new genuinely affordable homes in the capital through the last Affordable Homes Programme, while the previous Government failed to hit its national target.

“Despite a doubling of affordable housing completions in 2023-2024 compared to when Sadiq was first elected, these latest figures underline the major challenges currently facing the sector, including high construction costs, increased borrowing costs and the need to address building safety issues.

“The fact remains that London is still recovering from the disastrous inheritance from the last Government, which scrapped housing targets and brought housebuilding to its knees through a combination of underinvestment, policy uncertainty and indifference.

“The mayor is determined to build the genuinely affordable homes that London needs and is already working hand-in-hand with the new pro-home building Government to ensure London’s affordable housing delivery target is met, helping to build a fairer London for all.”