Government backs Livingstone's plan for more London houses

Ken Livingstone has decided to push London's new housing provision from 23,000 to 30,500 homes year on year, and this policy has been incorporated into the Mayor's London Plan.

Livingstone said: 'The government's endorsement for the new housing and waste targets for London, following the Examination in Public is extremely welcome. This, together with many of the measures in the Greater London Authority Bill, is good news for Londoners, many of whom struggle to buy or rent a home.

'We've seen welcome increases in home building increases in recent years, but we need to do better still - especially for affordable family homes. These new targets mean an additional increase in build rates of more than 33 per cent a year.'

He added: 'The proposed transfer of the £1 billion a year housing investment budget from Whitehall to London will help me bring housebuilders, housing associations and London councils together to see that we meet this demanding targets.'

Half of the additional 7,500 houses a year will be affordable - two thirds of which will be housing for rent, with the final third for shared ownership. The other half will be for the open market.

by Richard Vaughan