Mayor must put cheaper homes first

A coalition of housing bodies has urged the London mayor to put
tackling the shortage of affordable housing at the centre of his
plans for developing the capital’s infrastructure.

The coalition – made up of homelessness charity Shelter, the London
Housing Federation and the Chartered Institute of Housing – said it
supported Ken Livingstone’s goal of 50 per cent affordable housing,
which is one of the main proposals in his draft London Plan.

Shelter director of policy Alastair Jackson said: “The target where
half of all new homes built in London are affordable is the minimum
needed to tackle this crisis.”

He urged Livingstone to take the lead in setting out a cross-London
strategy to tackle the use of poor quality temporary housing.