BORIS JOHNSON has been accused of creating a new housing crisis, after official figures revealed a 70% drop in the building of affordable homes over the last year.
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“It is unacceptable that the Mayor has allowed affordable house building to fall so dramatically,” said Labour London Assembly Member John Biggs.
In Brigg’s own area of Newham, there were no new affordable house builds last year, compared with over a thousand the year before, the final year that previous Mayor Ken Livingstone’s house building programme was in force.
“Boris Johnson has claimed great credit for administering the affordable housing programme he inherited from his predecessor,” said Briggs.
“Now it’s clear his own record is less than impressive, with affordable housing starts are falling off a cliff.
“The Mayor’s failure to build more affordable housing is contributing to the rising cost of living, where private sector rents increased by 8.8 per cent for the poorest Londoners last year.
“We are in the midst of a housing crisis in London, exacerbated by a chronic shortage of affordable housing.”
Lack of affordable housing and rising rents are prime suspects in the recent rise in the number of those living rough on London’s streets, which has shot up by 54 percent to 5,678 people since 2010.
Meanwhile, there is a boom underway at the other end of the London market as £35 billion is poured into building swanky apartments for the super-rich, a 70% increase on previous years.
