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London Assembly warns of weaknesses in Mayor's Housing Strategy


Mayor of London Boris Johnson's updated Housing Strategy fails to address the capital's existing and future housing demand, the London Assembly has said.

The Assembly passed a motion in a meeting yesterday resolving to reject the Housing Strategy which the Mayor published last week. The Assembly said that the document provides "no substantive detail" of how its target of building 42,000 homes per year will be met.

It said the strategy "does little to provide genuinely affordable rented accommodation, ignores the need for reform of the private rented sector and misses the opportunity to incentivise the construction of much needed family sized houses".

The motion recommended that the Greater London Authority should intervene directly in the housing market by establishing a London Housing Corporation to commission the construction of new homes.

It also called on the Mayor to reallocate the proportion of the housing target in the strategy reserved for 'Affordable Rent' to a lower rent category.

“The Mayor’s Housing Strategy suggests he is the only person left in London who doesn’t understand the extent to which the market has failed, is failing and, without bold action, will continue to fail to adequately meet the needs of millions living in London,” said Assembly Member Tom Copley, who proposed the motion, in a statement.

“Without firm action from the Mayor people in low paid jobs will be driven out of central London," added Assembly Member Jenny Jones. "As a society we must act to address the capital’s drastic housing shortage," she said.

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