London is set to make less progress tackling its social housing waiting list than rural areas under the government’s £39bn housing programme.
New research from Centre for Cities found by 2036, the number of new social homes planned in London would be equivalent to just 18% of the capital’s priority housing waiting list.
However, the figure would be 46% in rural areas and 26% across England’s mayoral areas.
The think tank said more of the funding should be directed towards cities, where housing pressures are greatest. Separate research from the Centre for London shows over 340,000 are on social housing wait lists, a 30% increase over the past decade.
Off the back of the findings, Centre for Cities also said London’s share of the funding should increase by about a third, while metro mayors should have more control over how the money is spent.
The report also called for councils to have more flexibility to fund new housing, alongside measures to reduce some of the costs in constructing homes.
Ant Breach, director of policy and research at Centre for Cities, said the government had ‘rightly committed serious money’ to social and affordable housing, but argued the funding should be targeted at areas where housing need is greatest.
‘Based on current plans, rural areas will build enough new social homes to make more than twice as much progress against their priority waiting lists as London,’ Breach said. ‘That doesn’t make sense when London has the most severe housing pressure in the country.’
He added: ‘Across England, mayors should be given much greater control over social and affordable housebuilding.
‘Housing markets don’t stop at council boundaries, and mayors are better placed to coordinate where homes are built, where infrastructure is needed and how funding is spent.’
Image: Jay Wennington/UnSplash
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