The first task of mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s new “Homes for Londoners” team will be to scrutinise viability assessments, the mayor’s office has said.
It has released the first details of the City Hall team tasked with overseeing homebuilding and boosting the delivery of new and affordable homes, which will consist of finance surveyors and property consultants.
The mayor’s office said the first step has been to recruit new experts to scrutinise viability assessments – the financial details that lie behind how much affordable housing new developments include.
It will also support delivery by making planning decisions faster and more consistent, and by ensuring new developments include the maximum amount of affordable housing.
Khan will head the Homes for Londoners board, formed of London boroughs, housing associations and developers.
This will oversee delivery, land assembly and investment decisions, and will draw on expertise from across the housing and property sectors to help develop new policy for the capital.
Two of its 11 members will be residential developers.
The Homes for Londoners governance board will meet every three months and consist of:
• Mayor of London (chair)
• Deputy mayor for housing and residential development (deputy chair)
• Four borough leaders, to be nominated by London councils
• Transport for London commissioner
• GLA executive director – housing and land
• Chair of the G15
• Two members of the residential property sector
Khan said: “Home ownership has been slipping increasingly out of reach for more and more Londoners, and rents have been getting harder and harder to afford.
“I want to be honest with Londoners from the start that it will take time to turn things around – we are starting from a position where last year the previous mayor built the lowest number of affordable homes since records began.
“A review of capacity and skills across the GLA will now take place, which may lead to additional expertise and support being recruited into the team in due course.”
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