Wednesday December 14, 0845, Hilton, Tower Bridge, SE1
London’s housing market is in a bind. The gap between demand and supply continues to widen, costs are increasing and fewer homes are now affordable to rent or buy. More capital grant will help price Londoners into the housing they need, but are the boroughs and the Mayor ensuring they get the biggest bang for their ‘subsidy buck’ and investing in the places with the greatest opportunity? Is everywhere in London equally unaffordable, and is there a case for focusing greater resources on areas where housing costs are lower and on creating more mixed communities?
The Smith Institute’s new report, ‘Pricing Londoners in, not out: mapping where new affordable homes in London could be built’, offers a fresh insight into London’s housing crisis and challenges some of the conventional thinking about where London’s housing support should be directed. Using the latest data, it examines the costs to the public purse of supporting affordable housing in different places and for different tenures, and proposes greater burden sharing among the London boroughs – with a focus on outer London. These are sensitive issues and any form of ‘social dumping’ must be avoided at all costs. However, the Institute’s research suggests it’s time to rethink how London’s subsidised housing is planned for and funded to deliver the maximum benefit.
Speakers included:
Paul Hunter (Head of Research, The Smith Institute)
Neil Hadden (Chief Executive, Genesis)
Cllr Darren Rodwell (Leader, LB Barking and Dagenham)
View Paul Hunter’s Pricing Londoners In – slide pack