Mayor sets out plan to support renters ahead of May 2 election
Sadiq Khan has promised to build at least 6,000 “rent-controlled” affordable homes if he is re-elected as the Mayor of London.
Khan said if re-elected he will use his powers to build thousands of homes which will have rents “strictly” linked to keyworker incomes.
“These will be homes for rent which key workers and middle-income Londoners can afford”, he said.
Khan’s pledge is part of a ‘new deal for renters’ in the capital, which includes a number of other manifesto pledges.
The mayor said he would provide up to £4m in new funding for a London licensing hub to help councils take action to support renters, as well as new investment to back renters defending their rights, including advice, guidance and funding for groups such as renters’ unions.
> Also read: Gove intervenes in London Plan as Khan pledges to double council housebuilding
Khan also promised to freeze any funding landlords receive from City Hall if they do not meet certain housing standards and to work with a future Labour government to ensure licensing powers could be used to take action against the poorest-performing landlords.
Sadiq Khan said today: “Renters are at the sharp end of the country’s housing crisis and need a Mayor who’s prepared to fight their corner.
“I’ve been calling for the power to freeze rents in the capital for years, but the government has refused.
The Mayor of London has no formal powers over the private rented sector, but in his first term Khan backed higher standards with a rogue landlord and property license checkers and training for borough enforcement officers.
Last time he was up for re-election, he also campaigned on rent controls, calling that election a referendum on the issue, which would give him a mandate to demand new powers from central government.
It comes weeks after Khan launched his campaign for re-election with a promise to build 40,000 new council homes in the city by the end of the decade.
Election focus
As thoughts turn towards the next general election, the UK is facing some serious problems.
Low growth, flatlining productivity, question marks over net zero funding and capability, skills shortages and a worsening housing crisis all amount to a daunting in-tray for the next government.
This year’s general election therefore has very high stakes for the built environment and the economy as a whole. For this reason,
Building Design’s sister title Building is launching its most in-depth election coverage yet, helping the industry to understand the issues in play and helping to amplify construction’s voice so that the government hears it loud and clear.
We kick off this month with a three-parter looking at the state of play across three key topic areas.
Building is investigating the funding gaps facing the next government’s public sector building programmes, looking at the policy options available to the political parties.
In the coming months our Building Talks podcast will focus on perhaps the hottest political topic: the housing crisis. The podcast will feature interviews with top industry names who side-step soundbites in favour of in-depth discussions.
As the main parties ramp up their policy announcements, we will keep you up to date with their latest pledges on our website through our “policy tracker”.
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