Government housing plans need to deliver in London 

Responding to the new housing plans set out by the Prime Minister in the draft Queen's Speech, London Councils' Executive Member for Housing, Councillor Jamie Carswell, said:

"We are pleased that the government is responding to one of the challenges that London Councils set out in its housing vision by trying to help more low and middle income families to enter the property market.

"But London's high cost of living means that the capital - where average house prices are 13 times the median income - needs a targeted approach to this issue if it is to be successful.

"Our vision for the future of London's housing sets out how to make housing work for Londoners - from developing a rent free 50-50 shared ownership scheme to tackling the financial burden of Stamp Duty.

"We hope the government will work with us to deliver these ambitions - and continue its commitment to maintaining the current funding and level of new housing supply in London. Together we can deliver the homes Londoners need."

Notes to editors

Details of the government's announcement Opens in a new window

The average house price in the capital is over £360,000, or 13 times the median income.

Over the past five years 109,000 new households have been set up in London, of which only one in four is able to afford market housing without any type of subsidy.

London includes 16 of the 33 local authorities in England where a small home costs more than five times the average annual income of local working households where earners are aged under 40.

In Kensington and Chelsea house prices are now more than 20 times local average incomes. The income needed for a mortgage is £86,549.

London Councils housing vision - launched in January.

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