MINISTERS have attacked Boris Johnson for failing to tackle London's housing shortage and scrapping a commitment to build affordable homes.

Up to 112,000 households in the capital are believed to be without a decent home - and the city's population is expected to increase by 800,000 residents by 2016.

But Local Government Minister Iain Wright attacked Mr Johnson in the House of Commons for scrapping a pledge by former Mayor Ken Livingstone that half of all new homes would be subsidised or "affordable" homes, such as council houses or housing association properties.

The Minister claimed: "His housing policy seems blurred and confused, and well down his list of priorities."

Mr Johnson axed "prescriptive" targets designed to force councils to build affordable homes earlier this year, arguing that the housing shortage could best be tackled by allowing London boroughs to make their own decisions based on local needs.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Wright said: "The Mayor is sending out some very confused messages on affordable housing."

He added: "it is very clear from my perspective that the boroughs are bemused and confused about the planning targets for affordable housing.

"So I await with interest the Mayor's proposals on how he intends to set those targets for the whole of the 20-year London plan period."

Mr Johnson has also said he plans to build 50,000 affordable homes by 2011, but this seemed to contradict his decision to scrap the targets, the Minister said.

A consultation document published by Mr Johnson in July warned that the number of households in London could increase by 700,000 by 2026, because of a growing population and the increased number of people living alone.

One London MP warned that the credit crunch and the recession was leading to more privately-owned homes being repossessed as owners failed to meet mortgage payments.

Lee Scott (Con Ilford North) warned: "In my advice bureau I have seen people who, 12 or 18 months ago, would never have expected to need to come to me for help with housing."

He added: "Incomes are declining - in the past few weeks, I have met constituents who have been asked to take a 25 or 30 per cent. drop in salary to maintain their job . . .what was affordable a few months ago, is not affordable now."

Related links: Full Commons debate, London Mayor's consultation.

Bookmark This:
                                       

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Write comment

Name

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

Add Comment