Mayor Frees Up Land For London's Housing Revolution

More than 30,000 new homes could be created in the capital by freeing up under-used land owned by the Greater London Authority (GLA).

The announcement was made by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson today as he challenged London's developers and investors to help rethink the future delivery of affordable housing.

Speaking at his Housing Investment Summit the Mayor called on the key players present to match his commitment and put forward innovative and cost-effective measures to maximise delivery on any potential developments on GLA land. He wants London to show the rest of the UK that it is possible to secure the building of new homes in the face of reduced public spending.

He has asked for an audit of land owned across the GLA family, including Transport for London, the London Development Agency and the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, to identify potential development sites.


The Mayor is currently spending over a £1bn a year to maintain the construction of new homes in London through the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and has pioneered the KickStart programme spending £144m to unlock major regeneration schemes including the Aylesbury Estate, Kings Cross and Woodbury Down.

In March he launched the FirstSteps product which helps first time buyers to get on the housing ladder and remains on track to deliver 50,000 affordable homes. Today's summit is focused on the delivery of affordable homes after the current round of funding ends in 2011.

Mr Johnson said: "We're already on track to deliver 50,000 affordable homes which will benefit thousands of Londoners but this success cannot be an excuse to take our foot off the pedal.

"We have to set our sights to the future and start working now to deliver the next 50,000 and the 50,000 after that.

"The GLA is sitting on hundreds of potential housing sites that could be used to build more than 32,000 new homes and I know we’re not alone. London's councils, private institutions and HCA can all do the same but the cost and red tape involved is suffocating.

"I want to change this. To do this we need innovative ideas that will reshape how we invest, build and deliver affordable homes in London and in return I'll put my land where my mouth is and show London is leading the way on delivering affordable homes for 2011 and beyond," he said.

(CD/BMcC)