New Mayor of London has big plans for housing

Labour’s Sadiq Khan has been voted London’s new Mayor, calling the election a “referendum on housing”.

London’s new Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has plans to introduce a “London living rent” and ensures 50% of all new homes will be affordable.

He was formally signed to the role at Southwark Cathedral Ceremony, with former labour leader, Ed Milliband and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, present.

Having won 1,310,143 votes, Mr Khan received the largest personal mandate of any politician in UK history.

Mr Khan received a standing ovation when he walked in to the hall, with Dean of Southwark Andrew Nunn telling the congregation that the new Mayor’s victory brought a “carnival atmosphere”.

Signing in as the Mayor of London, he was greeted with cheers as he said: “My name is Sadiq Khan and I’m the mayor of London.

“Some of you may not know this, but I grew up on a council estate, just a few miles from here.

“Back then, I never dreamt that I could be standing here as the mayor of London.

“I’m only here today because of the opportunities and helping hand that our city gave to me and my family.

“And my burning ambition for our city, that will guide my mayoralty, is to ensure that all Londoners get the opportunities that our city gave to me.”

His manifesto did not include a specific target, but in the early part of his campaign, he spoke about increasing house-building to 80,000 a year. He has agreed with a 2015 report by the Mayor’s office which says housebuilding needs to reach 50,000 a year in the capital, which would improve on the average of 19,571 homes per year built under Ken Livingstone and 18,364 per year under Boris Johnson.

Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted the hashtag #YesWeKhan, following Mr Khan’s victory on Friday night, telling the new mayor: “Can’t wait to work with you to create a London that is fair for all”.

London is currently experience a serious housing shortage, with prices of homes and apartments to buy and to rent, the highest in the country.

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