Significant stride to tackle capital’s housing crisis welcomed by London Councils

Government proposals to drive up the new supply of homes, unveiled in today's housing green paper, have been greeted by London Councils as a significant stride in tackling London's housing crisis. 

The organisation has particularly welcomed new measures to encourage local authorities to deliver more homes, stating that these will underline local authorities' role as community housing champions. 

Welcoming the announcement, London Councils' Executive Member for Housing, Councillor Jamie Carswell said:

"We are very excited about the proposals contained within the government's housing green paper, which look set to usher in a new era of home-building. A dramatically increased supply of new homes is exactly what we need here in London - where high house prices and a chronic shortfall of affordable homes have contributed to a growing crisis.

"I am particularly pleased at the government's bold steps to enable local authorities to provide leadership to build new council homes. For too long now local authorities have not had the opportunity to build the homes their communities need. Thanks to these proposals London's local authorities can now enhance their role as community housing champions and provide the new homes Londoners are crying out for.

"We have been discussing with government how best to encourage local authorities to deliver new homes - and we are pleased to see that their proposals appear to be based on the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham's Asset Investment Vehicle pilot. This will enable the council to provide 4,000 new homes for the borough - and will allow the council to reinvest profits from increased land value to build even more homes. 

"We look forward to building on the green paper's proposals to continue the discussion over how to grant councils further freedoms and flexibilities - particularly from the national Housing Revenue Account subsidy system. This would help them use their resources more effectively to meet their communities' needs.

"However, it is clear that right now is the time to drive up both the numbers and the quality of new homes. The proposals contained within this green paper should represent a significant stride in achieving this and tackling London's housing crisis. I am sure that the government will address how to help local authorities respond more effectively to their communities' housing needs at the next available opportunity."

The green paper - Homes for the Future: more affordable, more sustainable - was launched today by Communities and Local Government. See link below for more details.

For press enquiries please contact: Chris Hogwood on 020 7934 9757Chris.hogwood@londoncouncils.gov.uk   Fax 020 7934 9769

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