100 days of Khan

20 August 2016 – by Estates Gazette

100 days after Sadiq Khan’s election as mayor of London, Estates Gazette takes a look at the key milestones of his tenure and how he is progressing with his campaign pledges. Wider political changes post-Brexit may be beyond his control. But what has he done so far?

His campaign pledges

In the run up to the mayoral election, Khan said his top priority was to:

“Tackle the housing crisis, build thousands more homes for Londoners each year, set an ambitious target of 50% of new homes being genuinely affordable, and get a
better deal for renters.”

Pledges included:

Increasing housebuilding to 50,000 a year

More affordable homes, and more going to Londoners

Using public land for housebuilding

A London living rent for affordable schemes, based on a third of local salaries

“Use it or lose it” powers on sites not built out

Protection of the green belt

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How much affordable?

The to-ing and fro-ing with regard to the level of affordable housing required for developments has been a major bump in the road since Khan took office.

Before being elected, he said that 50% of housing developments needed to be affordable. However, within a month, newly appointed deputy mayor for housing James Murray said this was a strategic, long-term target, and would not be required on every scheme.

By the end of July, Estates Gazette revealed that Khan was considering a 35% flat rate across private schemes, while hoping to increase affordable provision on publicly controlled sites.

While some argue that higher affordable requirements will make some schemes unviable, others said that a fixed rule for all would provide more clarity from the beginning and reduce the delay in determining viability.

Click here to find out what else Khan has done, and to see an interactive timeline of events

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