Boris Johnson has yet to secure the £100m needed to deliver a key housing pledge, the London Assembly heard this week.
Last month the Mayor announced a £100m fund “as part of a new housing deal to help thousands of working Londoners, giving a huge boost to the construction industry and ensuring that London retains its competitiveness.”
The fund is supposed to enabled projects which help people own their own home and City hall said it had “the potential to boost the London economy by £2 billion”.
However David Lunts, the Greater London Authority’s Executive Director for Housing and Land, told a meeting of the Assembly’s Budget Monitoring Sub-Committee that only “tens of millions” of funding had been secured.
Lunts told Assembly Members that City Hall was still in discussions with central Government to secure funds to help those ineligible for social housing but unable to buy their one homes.
Witnesses appearing before the Committee were unable to say precisely how much money had already been secured.
Committee Chair John Biggs AM said: “Last month the Mayor made a significant commitment to spend £100m on helping Londoners – and especially those just above the threshold for social housing – onto the property ladder. Now it emerges that he has yet to secure the full sum.”
“Buying a home of their own is an aspiration for many Londoners, but many still need a helping hand to realise that dream. Our Committee will continue to press the Mayor for a lot more clarity about exactly how much money is available to help them.”
Sir Bubba Cumming says
Does Boris keep his word?