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New homes well below growth in population in 30 boroughs in London GMB study shows

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New homes well below growth in population in 30 boroughs in London GMB study shows in response to government housing white paper.

The White Paper recognises that building more homes for rent is essential and there is no way that the targets can be met unless councils are allowed to build homes for rent says GMB London.

Across London the number of new homes built in the last six years is only 41.8% of the number of new households formed in the same period. Overall there are 30 boroughs in the capital where the number of new homes ranges from 16.4% to 95.6% of the number of new households formed in the the capital during this period. [See notes to editors for copy of the press release from DCLG].

In Redbridge, households have been increasing by an average of 1,847 per year since 2010 and over the same period the net additional dwellings have increased by 303 per year. The increase in the number of dwellings is 16.4% of the increase in households, showing the biggest housing gap of all the boroughs in London..

The next 5 are Kingston upon Thames with 23.7%, Camden with 25.1%, Haringey with 25.6%, Enfield with 25.7% and Hounslow with 27.3%. Of the 33 boroughs, only 3 are creating enough additional dwellings to meet demand from increase in households.

The 3 boroughs with additional dwellings higher than household growth are Kensington and Chelsea, City of London and Hammersmith and Fulham.

In England as a whole, households have been increasing by an average of 218,316 per year since 2010 and over the same period the net additional dwellings have increased by 148,993 per year. The increase in the number of dwellings is 68.2% of the increase in households.

The table below has the figures for all 33 London boroughs.  See notes to editors for sources and definitions. 

Households and dwellings: Annual average from 2010 to 2016
    Households Dwellings %
  ENGLAND 218,316 148,993 68.2
  London 59,212 24,763 41.8
rank        
1 Redbridge 1,847 303 16.4
2 Kingston upon Thames 1,096 260 23.7
3 Camden 2,307 580 25.1
4 Haringey 2,237 573 25.6
5 Enfield 2,095 538 25.7
6 Hounslow 2,065 563 27.3
7 Sutton 1,070 355 33.2
8 Waltham Forest 1,680 610 36.3
9 Bexley 940 345 36.7
10 Islington 2,471 913 37.0
11 Hackney 2,660 988 37.2
12 Tower Hamlets 4,324 1,613 37.3
13 Barking and Dagenham 1,313 493 37.6
14 Hillingdon 2,056 778 37.9
15 Westminster 2,319 897 38.7
16 Bromley 1,406 545 38.8
17 Brent 2,184 872 39.9
18 Newham 3,221 1,302 40.4
19 Richmond upon Thames 874 363 41.6
20 Havering 963 412 42.8
21 Greenwich 2,291 990 43.2
22 Lambeth 2,560 1,160 45.3
23 Merton 810 375 46.3
24 Harrow 1,169 557 47.6
25 Ealing 1,492 727 48.7
26 Barnet 2,755 1,350 49.0
27 Lewisham 2,466 1,287 52.2
28 Croydon 2,223 1,218 54.8
29 Southwark 2,405 1,387 57.7
30 Wandsworth 1,341 1,282 95.6
31 Hammersmith and Fulham 476 623 131.0
32 City of London 98 143 146.8
33 Kensington and Chelsea 1 360 150+

Warren Kenny, GMB London region secretary, said

“The White Paper recognises that building more homes for rent is an essential part of the solution to the shortage of housing.

“It is essential that Government recognises that, like in 1907, local councils should be given powers to build homes for rent. This power stood until Mrs Thatcher took it away in the 1980s. There is no way that the targets can be met unless councils do build housing for rent at affordable rents. 

“The policy Mrs Thatcher put in place instead has been extremely costly and has not delivered the number of new affordable homes required. Housing benefit paid to private landlords has soared and the total annual costs of this costly policy are now £24 billion of taxpayers’ money.  

“Government should not back down on the requirements that developers must start building on any sites 24 months after planning permission is granted.”

End 

Contact: Keith Williams 07710 631339; Shaun Graham 07885 706556; Tony Warr 07710 631336

Notes to editors: 

1) Source: Housing and Planning Analysis Division, Department for Communities and Local Government, Crown copyright.

Table 122: Housing Supply; net additional dwellings, by local authority district

Table 406: Household projections by district

2) Definitions:

Net additions measure the absolute increase in stock between one year and the next, including other losses and gains (such as conversions, changes of use and demolitions)

Household: one person living alone, or a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address with common housekeeping – that is, sharing either a living room or sitting room or at least one meal a day.

Dwelling: a self-contained unit of accommodation. Self-containment is where all the rooms (including kitchen, bathroom and toilet) in a household’s accommodation are behind a single door which only that household can use.

3) Housing White Paper Press statement: 7 February 2017

www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-ambitious-plan-to-build-the-homes-britain-needs

The government has introduced bold new plans to fix the broken housing market and build more homes across England.

The government has today (7 February 2017) introduced bold new plans to fix the broken housing market and build more homes across England.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid says the current system isn’t working and is one of the greatest barriers to progress in Britain today.

The reforms in a white paper published today sets out new measures to ensure the housing market works for everyone, including people on lower incomes, renters, disabled and older people by:

Getting the right homes built in the right places

Speeding up house building

Diversifying the market

Further measures in the housing white paper ‘Fixing our broken housing market’ include:

Homeowners
Affordable Rent and Rent to Buy
Renters
Green belt
Empty homes
Leasehold