Developers have pledged almost £1bn to fund affordable homes in London over the past five years, enough to pay for 20% of all social housing delivered since the start of the decade.
Around £965m has been paid or promised to the capital’s local authorities since September 2010 in lieu of affordable housing provision. On development costs alone this could fund 13,000 homes, according to figures from EGi’s London Residential Research. This is on top of the 40,000 affordable homes built on-site by developers between 2010 and 2014.
The industry has come under fire from protest groups over its track record on affordable housing provision. However, while affordable housing contributions have rocketed, councils’ provision of social housing in the capital has dropped by a third.
In total, 13,560 affordable homes were provided by local authorities in the year to May 2010, according to the GLA, but this fell to 9,230 in the year to May 2014, the latest period for which the government has data.
Affordable housing provision as a proportion of total supply has dropped from 31% in 2010 to 28% in 2014. During the same period, payments in lieu of affordable housing provision more than doubled. Westminster, at the top of the contributions table, has amassed almost £400m since September 2010, dwarfing Hounslow at the bottom with £40m.
Newham is the only outer London borough to feature in the top 10, bringing in £107m in the past five years. It was also the biggest provider of social housing last year, delivering 1,350 social houses.
Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: “The private sector delivers affordable housing as part of large schemes as a matter of course, and these figures show it delivers a significant number of much-needed homes. Where commuted payments are given, we encourage local authorities to be innovative to deliver best value for communities.”
