The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, announced yesterday government funding of up to £220 million for new low cost housing initiatives in the city.
The First Steps Challenge Fund, aiming to deliver 4,000 new affordable homes to Londoners between 2015 and 2020, is making up to £180 million available to several shared ownership schemes. The fund is part of a £1.45 billion government boost the Mayor has secured for the delivery of low cost housing in London over the next three years. The funding is being provided on a recoverable basis so it can be reinvested.
The Mayor’s Housing Covenant revolving fund is granting up to £40 million to a new house purchase plan, called Gentoo Genie. Genie is offering first-time buyers and long-term renters an easy way onto the housing ladder as they can acquire a property without a deposit or a mortgage. They buy shares into their new home every time they make a monthly payment and after 30 years own 100 per cent of the property. Payments for each five-year period are fixed. Genie is just now being introduced to London after a successful pilot in the North East of England.
London Assembly Labour Group housing spokesperson Tom Copley criticised Johnson for not doing enough after the Mayor’s announcement yesterday. While he admitted the fresh funding is welcome, Copley said it would only deliver a small number of homes, which will not be available for another five years. It is “a drop in the ocean compared with what London is crying out for,” he said.
According to Copley, there is evidence that London needs 62,000 new homes annually while last year the number of new builds was below 18,000 and many of the homes were beyond the price range of ordinary citizens.
