Boris bails out affordable housing schemes

Mayor Boris Johnson has set aside £51.7 million to “rescue” 518 new affordable homes for Londoners - in 16 separate schemes - which were threatened in the recent round of central-government spending cuts.

Working with the London Homes and Communities Agency, the Mayor was forced to step in because the coalition Goverment did not have enough money to meet Labour’s £900 million Kickstart housing scheme announced last year.

Kickstart would have funded 25 housing projects in London. The Mayor’s office says these developments are now “at risk because of funding uncertainties following the coalition Government’s emergency Budget.” The office added that early cuts to housing projects in that budget already put some London affordable developments on hold.

The boroughs expected to benefit from the “Boris bail-out” are Newham, promised more than £19 million for 111 homes in three schemes; Lambeth, which is set to get £9 million for 105 new homes built by Metropolitan Housing Trust, and Hackney, expecting 76 new homes, also from Metropolitan Housing Trust, with £6 million of funding.

A high proportion of the new homes - due to be ready for occupation in 2012 – are larger family houses, which the Mayor has said are in critically short supply in the capital.

To find out more about affordable London housing schemes, visit homebuy.co.uk.