The Mayor for London’s housing adviser Neale Coleman has told the government it must commit more money if the GLA’s affordable housing targets are to be met.
Giving evidence to the Commons’ Urban Affairs sub-committee, Coleman said: “Research for the Mayor demonstrates that a 50% affordable housing target is an achievable target in two-thirds of London boroughs if a flexible approach is taken and the level of public subsidy is right.”
Mayor Ken Livingstone’s draft London Plan, which will be published later this month, is expected to reiterate his policy that all new residential developments must provide 50% affordable housing in inner London, and 35% in outer London.
Coleman joins a growing number of experts calling for more public money for housing.
At the Chartered Institute of Housing’s (CIH) annual conference in Harrogate this week, CIH president Richard Kitson said that housing needs an extra £1.5bn in public subsidy per year.
He urged deputy prime minister John Prescott to “lobby hard” for extra cash from the Treasury in next month’s Comprehensive Spending Review, which will lay down public spending for the next three years.
Chancellor Gordon Brown stated in a speech on Monday to the Amicus union that the spending review “would do more to remove barriers to planning and housing”.
EGi News 12/06/02
