Sadiq Khan and Boris Johnson clashed today as the new Mayor accused his predecessor of “leaving the cupboard bare” on affordable housing.
Mr Khan said the Tory MP had “grossly let down Londoners” and warned the housing crisis could “not be turned round overnight”.
But Mr Johnson defended his record, saying his successor had failed to “come clean” on the true number of affordable homes that had been built. A record 100,000 were completed in his two terms, with numbers only low last year because it was the start of a new Government spending round, he said.
The criticism is potentially damaging for Mr Johnson, who may rely on his London record to prove his credentials in any future Tory leadership contest.
Mr Khan, who described the mayoral race as “a referendum on the housing crisis”, said he had asked officials to carry out an urgent housing audit.
He told the Standard: “One of the first things we did when we got to City Hall was open the books and look at what was already in the pipeline, and it seems the previous mayor has grossly let down Londoners by leaving the cupboard bare when it comes to delivering affordable housing.
“I’m determined to fix London’s housing crisis and ensure all Londoners have the opportunity to rent or buy a decent home at a price they can afford, but the scale of the challenge is now clearer than ever and we’re not going to be able to turn things around overnight.
“There is no doubt we have our work cut out, but I plan to personally get to grips with the mess that has been left behind and will insist on far higher levels of affordable housing in new developments.” On a site visit in Southwark, the Mayor said he wanted Transport for London to “fast track” surplus locations for development that had previously been “sat on”. Mr Khan’s “audit” showed that last year Mr Johnson delivered just 4,880 affordable homes, the fewest in decades, while only 13 per cent of the homes left in the planning system were affordable.
He criticised his predecessor’s “flawed” digital ‘Domesday Book’ of public land which included sites — including 10 Downing Street, City Hall and the British Museum — that would never be built on. However, City Hall officials drew up the list to show all public land, not just sites available for development.
Mrt Khan appeared to row back from his campaign commitment to build at least 50,000 homes a year, telling re-porters it was more important to build “the right sort of homes”. Mr Johnson’s spokesman said: “Disappointingly the Mayor isn’t coming clean on his housing numbers. He fails to mention 100,000 affordable homes were completed between 2008 and 2016 — a record.
“He also knows that last year’s completions were low for a reason — the start of a new Government investment round— yet he fails to mention that the previous year saw a record 18,000 affordable homes completed, more than any point since 1981.
“He knows well that this data is al-ready public and was published on the Greater London Authority website under the last mayor. Mr Khan also knows the GLA released all of its surplus land under Boris Johnson — 414 hectares which will deliver about 50,000 homes — which will greatly benefit this Mayor’s housing numbers, if he’d only bothered to check.”
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