London Councils supportive of plans to increase housing but says local people must reap the benefits

London Councils agrees with the Mayor's plans to increase the new supply of housing in London and his plans to improve the environmental sustainability of new housing outlined in his housing strategy, which is released today.

However, it has also expressed serious reservations about the Mayor's plans to dramatically increase the number of homes going into the London-wide choice and mobility service.

The boroughs had originally been working towards putting 5 per cent of existing lettings to the service - the Mayor wants this increased to 25 per cent by 2012, and 100 per cent of new builds from 2009.

While supportive of the choice and mobility service, London Councils is concerned that this dramatic increase would mean local residents would be unlikely to see the benefits of increased housing supply in their local area. 

Commenting on the strategy launch, London Councils Executive Member for Housing, Councillor Jamie Carswell, said: 

"The capital needs a dramatic increase in new housing supply across all tenures, and this strategy looks set to help deliver the new homes London Councils explicitly lobbied for. We look forward to October, and the government's Comprehensive Spending Review providing the financial muscle to back up our ambitions.

"However, we are gravely concerned by the Mayor's plans to increase abruptly the proportion of new homes going into the London-wide choice and mobility service to 100 per cent from 2009. It is essential that local people have a stake in the new homes that boroughs are building. If local people don't feel that they can access these homes, boroughs will find it very difficult to gain support for new housing projects. The boroughs are there to provide for their local residents, but the Mayor's proposals could undermine this role.

"We remain committed to the London-wide choice and mobility service, which we are leading on. However, the Mayor is proposing a radical expansion before it has even got off the ground. We are keen to talk to the Mayor about these concerns, and look forward to working with him to ensure the project's success."

The Mayor's housing strategy was launched today, Tuesday, 18 September.

Background on London Councils' lobbying around the Mayor's strategy

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