Government falling short of social housing targets

Wednesday, 19 September 2007 12:00 AM

The majority of the 33 boroughs in London are failing to meet the demand for affordable housing, according to homeless charity Shelter.

Despite a pledge from mayor Ken Livingston half of all new domestic property in the capital would take the form of affordable housing - with the majority of these being social rented homes - few of the city's boroughs are meeting requirements.

"London is now the most expensive place to buy a property in Britain," said Adam Sampson, chief executive of Shelter.

"It is vital councils meet the targets set for affordable housing if hard working Londoners are to have any chance of securing a decent home in the capital."

Yet, just five boroughs have met the target in the previous three years.

Hammersmith and Fulham leads the way, with 82 per cent of new housing falling into the affordable category.

Haringey (63 per cent), Waltham Forest (54 per cent), Barking and Dagenham (54 per cent) and Ealing (52 per cent), also met the governments targets.

However, the vast majority of boroughs failed to measure up to the government's plans.

Just 12 per cent of housing in Wandsworth fell into the social housing category, with Bexley and Kingston upon Thames also falling well below the targets with 15 and 16 per cent respectively.

Greenwich and Havering were also well down the list with 17 per cent of new property being classed as social housing in each.

"The government has pledged to make housing a top priority which means local councils will need to work much harder to ensure they meet these targets and help address the capital's growing housing crisis," concluded Mr Sampson.

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