What the London mayoral candidates have to say about housing policy:
| Candidate | Zac Goldsmith | Sian Berry | Sadiq Khan | Caroline Pidgeon | Peter Whittle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total annual housebuilding target | 50,000 a year by 2020 | 200,000 over a 4 year term | 50,000 | 150,000 private units over 4 year term | |
| Affordable housing target | 64,000 social and low cost rent, 400,000 low cost ownership | • At least half of all new housing to be affordable • Housing Associations to deliver 180,000 new homes over 10 years | 50,000 council homes over 4 year term | ||
| Planning | • Expert ‘flying planners’ team to support LA planning departments • Standard viability assessments for affordable homes in developments • Chief Architect for London • London Plan to set aside more homes for Londoners on average salaries | • Reintroduce 50% affordable housing target for individual developments, require transparency on viability assessments • Protect Zero Carbon definition • Offer communities a Right to Regenerate – becoming partners in the planning of opportunity areas and housing zones | • Develop planning rules to tackle ‘buy-to-leave’ • Improve planning and design to offer older Londoners more choice of suitable housing • Greater transparency on viability assessments for affordable homes in developments | • Use powers more effectively to encourage home building, including benchmark that half of housing in new developments should be affordable for majority of Londoners | Large development consents to be decided by local referendums |
| Development | • Guarantee homes built on Mayoral land are only for Londoners – Homes built on TfL land reserved for those living in London for at least 3 years • ‘London share’ retained in public sector land sold for development | • Company with a £0.5bln fund from council tax to support smaller and community builders • Free home insulation for homeowners • Break up bigger development sites up into smaller plots | • Setting up ‘Homes for Londoners’ and building alliance of all with a stake in housebuilding • Affordable homes to include social rent, new London Living Rent and part-buy- part-rent • Attract institutional investors to finance homes for long-term, secure rent | • City-hall owned developer to delivery 50,000 affordable homes • Continue to levy Olympic Precept – leading to accessing finance of up to £2 billion to build housing* | • Register of London’s brownfield sites • Prioritise Londoners when developing on GLA land |
| Buyers | • Londoners given first refusal on new-build homes built on TfL land • ‘Mayor’s mortgage’ for new-build property, 9 month agreement in principle window (instead of 6 months) | • Phase out shared ownership and replace with models such as mutual home ownership which will remain affordable in the longer term • Campaign to reform leasehold law | • Londoners given ‘first dibs’ on all homes built on Mayoral land • Seek to extend ‘first dibs’ to homes built on public land and to a proportion of homes built in all developments across the Capital | ||
| Private Rented Sector | • Three-year tenancies offered as standard • Target high fees charged by estate agents to tenants • Campaign for employers to offer ‘deposit loans’ for rental deposits to workers | • Create a ‘union for renters’ – which would be an advice and lobbying group • Set up a register for landlords, which would allow tenants to rate and compare landlords | • Rogue landlords named and shamed in public database • Set up not-for-profit lettings agency • Increase renters’ rights on tenancy lengths and rents • Promote landlord licensing and make the case for a London-wide scheme | • Promote 3-5 year tenancies • All landlords to be registered • Scrap agents’ lettings fees for tenants | Higher taxes for buy-to-let investors who leave property empty |
| Right to buy (Right to Buy comes under Central Government remit) | Encouraging 2 for 1 replacement of properties sold | • Lobby for end of Right to Buy • Work with Councils and Housing Associations to mitigate impact of Housing and Planning Bill | Right-to-buy should come with a guarantee that a like- for-like replacement home for social rent will be built in local area | • Scrap RtB for Social Tenants • Introduce RtB for private tenants when landlords sell property | |
| * Green belt | Protect the Greenbelt | Protect the Greenbelt | Protect the Greenbelt | Protect the Greenbelt | Protect the Greenbelt |
| Estate regeneration | Regeneration to replace run-down estates with mansion blocks and terraces – where a majority of local residents in favour | • No complete demolition unless absolutely necessary • Regeneration to be led by residents who have right to independent ballot and support from Community Homes Unit | • Regeneration only with full resident support, demolition only where other options have been exhausted • In-fill to boost housing numbers | ||
| Homelessness | Expand ‘No First Night Out’ which helps identify those at risk of homelessness | Expanding ‘No First Night Out’ scheme, with plans to end rough sleeping | Set up ‘No Nights Sleeping Rough’ taskforce to oversee funding and implementation of Mayor’s priorities in this area | Expanding ‘No first night out’ scheme | Set up a homelessness register at City Hall |
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