Exclusive: Sadiq Khan ‘miles behind’ council housing target with just 1,600 completed since 2018
London Mayor Sadiq Khan is lagging behind on his 2018 promise to build more council houses in the capital, and has very little time left to meet his target.
Numbers from City Hall showed just 1,632 council homes in London have been built since 2018, despite Khan promising to build more than 11,154 by 2022.
The figures show the Mayor has delivered just 14.6 per cent of the council homes he pledged to fund in 2018, with just a year and a half to go until his target.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London described the figures as “selective and misleading”, pointing out they only include homes that have been started and completed since 2018, ignoring “thousands” of homes that have been started and are yet to complete.
They said that there have been 8,376 homes started during the period, putting them on track to deliver more than 11,000 council homes by the end of the current Affordable Housing Programme in 2023.
“In reality, London is undergoing a renaissance in council housebuilding under Sadiq Khan: more council homes were started in 2019/20 than in any year since 1983, council housing completions have doubled, and the Mayor is firmly on track to meet his target of starting 10,000 council homes,” they added.
‘Miles behind’
Khan has already faced criticism for his record on affordable housing, which saw him complete just 34,659 affordable homes in his first five years as Mayor, compared with Boris Johnson’s 62,387 total during his first term.
At the time, Khan described the figures as “misleading nonsense”, adding that the Labour mayor’s first year in office came after a “record low” number of housing completions by Johnson in 2015-16, hampering his early progress.
Andrew Boff, the Conservatives’ London Assembly spokesperson for housing, said Khan was “miles behind” his promise on council housing.
“His inability to build the homes our city needs is letting thousands of Londoners down who are desperate for new housing,” Boff said.
“The Mayor has no excuse for these disappointing figures. He has been given nearly £5bn from the government to build homes in London, but he still can’t deliver them.
“Unless Sadiq Khan speeds up his council housebuilding programme, he will break his promise to Londoners.”
The data, which was obtained by a written question from a Tory Assembly Member, showed Hackney was the borough with the most council houses completed under Khan, with 250 built since 2018.
Tower Hamlets has seen 200 council homes built since 2018, while 162 have been completed in Brent.
In contrast, Haringey, Hammersmith & Fulham and Richmond have seen the fewest council homes built, with six, two and one completed respectively.