The challenge we face

Everyone agrees that the country is facing a major housing crisis. It is particularly acute in London and the South East of England.

• Some 1.15 million people are on housing waiting lists across the country – 100,000 of them for over five years, and tens of thousands for over a decade.
• Rough sleeping and homelessness continue to rise – nearly 5,000 people slept rough on any one night in England in 2017. Shelter estimates up to 300,000 are currently homeless or living in insecure accommodation.
• It’s more and more difficult for vulnerable people to secure a decent home from a private landlord, with many turned away for receiving benefits or because of previous rent arrears.
• In-work homelessness is rising – more than half of families living in temporary accommodation in London last year were in employment.
• First-time buyers in London can now expect to pay a staggering 13 times their salary for their first home.

Whether it’s to rent or to buy, the cost of housing in the capital is unaffordable for lots of people. In many parts of London the average rent for a two-bedroom flat is well over £1,500 per month, while the average value of a home is nearly £500,000. This can be devastating for families and is having a knock-on effect on London’s social, cultural and economic success.

Whatever their financial circumstances, Londoners are vital to the city’s continued prosperity and growth, so we need a permanent supply of quality, genuinely affordable homes in London.