Zoë Garbett urges Sadiq Khan to act on housing crisis as it ‘hits families and disabled Londoners hardest’
Zoë Garbett said delivery of Affordable Housing is at risk of ‘falling further behind’. Photograph: Supplied
The Mayor is falling short of delivering the affordable homes that Londoners need most, a City Hall report has concluded.
The social housing system is failing to keep pace with increasing demand from families and disabled Londoners, the London Assembly Housing Committee have said in a new publication.
There is especially a lack of affordable family-sized and accessible homes in the capital, with Sir Sadiq Khan told to adopt new measures to enable and incentivise these types of properties, despite being more expensive to build.
Just three per-cent of all homes built through City Hall’s Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) between 2016 and 2025 had four or more bedrooms, while less than a fifth had three bedrooms.
The vast majority – 78 per cent – were either studios, or one or two-bedroom properties.
Affordable homes built by the GLA between 2016 and 2025:
The report, entitled ‘Assessing delivery, needs and challenges of the Mayor’s Affordable Homes’, said developers were not being given the appropriate grants to motivate them to build larger homes.
The G15, a group of London’s leading housing associations, told the committee’s investigation that allocating grants based on habitable rooms “rather than per unit would better reflect the cost and space requirements of different home types, supporting delivery that aligns with local need”.
Sadiq Khan looks set to fall short on affordable home starts for 2021-2016. Photograph: Greater London Authority
“As a Committee, we think that grant should be adjusted for any bid delivering family-sized homes and not just in certain cases,” the report added, while also recommending the GLA introduces targets for family-sized homes built through the AHP.
“The committee notes that allocating higher grant rates to certain homes will impact the overall number of units that can be delivered with the current funding allocation. However, a strategic use of funds, linking grant more closely to the number of habitable rooms or floor space, would result in the Affordable Homes Programme better meeting London’s most urgent housing need.”
The report also suggested that disabled and deaf Londoners were still being let down by substandard monitoring of affordable, accessible housing and the “absence of targets” for the number of these built – with a lack of reliable data creating further confusion around what is actually needed.
The GLA’s strategy is failing to deliver enough affordable homes, according to a report. Photograph: Greater London Authority/Caroline Teo
The report notes: “The insufficient data for accessible homes delivered through the Affordable Homes Programme means we cannot know whether delivery partners are meeting the targets for accessible homes set out in the London Plan.
“However, we can evaluate whether the programme is currently designed in a way that enables and supports them to bring forward these homes.
“The evidence we received throughout this investigation suggests the programme is not designed in a way that facilitates the delivery of accessible, affordable homes, as like family-sized homes, grant is not adjusted to allow for this”.
Chair of the London Assembly Housing Committee, Zoë Garbett, said: “London’s housing crisis is hitting families and disabled Londoners hardest, yet the homes they need most are the ones least likely to be built. The report highlights that delivery has slowed sharply since 2023, at the same time as demand for genuinely affordable housing continues to rise.
“Evidence to the committee showed that rising construction costs, high land prices, increased borrowing costs and new building safety requirements have all reduced the capacity of councils and housing associations to bring forward new homes.
“Without changes to how funding is allocated, the report warns that delivery under the next Affordable Homes Programme risks falling further behind.”
The Greater London Authority has come under fire for what critics see as underperformance in delivering the number of affordable homes that the capital needs to keep up with rising demand.
The Mayor of London met his target of 116,000 starts under the 2016-2023 AHP, but has fallen short in recent years.
The original target for the 2021-2026 AHP was 35,000 starts by March 2026, though this was later revised twice down to a minimum of 17,800.
Affordable housing progress in London:
However, just 6,370 affordable homes were started by September 2025, leaving a major shortfall ahead of the looming deadline.
Deputy Mayor for Housing Tom Copley has blamed a “perfect storm” of factors for the under delivery, including soaring interest rates and construction costs, as well as claiming the programme was not actually signed off by then-Housing Secretary Michael Gove until mid-2023.
Last year City Hall and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government agreed a deal to reduce affordability quotas for developers from 35 to 20 per cent in a bid to kickstart housebuilding, with Mr Copley suggesting that “20 per cent of something is better than 35 per cent of nothing”.
Deputy Mayor for Housing Tom Copley blamed a “perfect storm” of factors for the under delivery. Photograph: London Assembly
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “Tackling the housing crisis is a top priority for the Mayor and he is doing everything he can to deliver more homes of all tenures.
“Despite tough economic conditions he exceeded the ambitious target set by the previous Government of starting 116,000 homes under his 2016-2023 Affordable Homes Programme and has prioritised delivering homes for social rent during challenging economic conditions in the 2021-2026 programme. That’s why, in 2025, the number of council homes completed by London boroughs through GLA funded programmes was at its highest level since 2016-17.
Construction completions forecast in London:
“However, affordable housing delivery, much like the delivery of all forms of housing, is facing a perfect storm due to a combination of the disastrous legacy of the previous government, high interest rates, the rising cost of construction materials, the impact of the pandemic and Brexit and Building Safety Regulator delays.
“This year, we are encouraging housing providers to bid for a record government investment of £11.7 billion through the Mayor’s Affordable Homes Programme to deliver social and affordable housing across London, including thousands of Key Worker Living Rent Homes.
“We expect all home builders to adhere to London plan policies on wheelchair-accessible homes, and we particularly welcome bids for family-sized homes, as we continue to build a better, fairer London for everyone.”