Addressing an affordable housing conference on 25 May as part of his campaign for re-election, Ken Livingstone said: "There is remarkable potential in the Gateway – there could be 120,000 new homes there."
Livingstone gave the example of Barking, where he said up to 20,000 more homes could be added if overground electricity pylons were buried.
Last July, the ODPM proposed 59,000 homes in the Gateway.
However sources suggested the plan would come at a high cost to the taxpayer, as it would require a huge investment in infrastructure. The 120,000 homes would depend on the building of transport infrastructure such as the east-west Crossrail link and extensions to the Docklands Light Railway, plus numerous schools and hospitals.
For its part, Barking & Dagenham council says that, given infrastructure investment, it could build 13,000 extra homes in its borough.
Although the government is keen to have as many houses as possible in the area, the Treasury is believed to be concerned about infrastructure expenses.
A London government source said: "The government is keen to support the right sort of development, but clearly it's not in a position to say, 'We'll line up Crossrail for you'."
Livingstone's speech was the first sign that he is likely to adopt higher numbers as policy if re-elected on 10 June.
It also reflects a growing consensus that the government target of 59,000 homes is not ambitious enough. In April the Thames Gateway London Partnership, the body coordinating development work, and the London Development Agency produced detailed costings for building 91,000 homes (HT 30 April, page 13). Yet even this plan left a £3bn funding gap, according to the LDA.
Now, Livingstone's development adviser, architect Lord Richard Rogers, is looking at the potential for up to 150,000 homes across the Thames Gateway.
This will feed into a wider housing capacity study being conducted in the capital and due to report at the end of the year.
Source
Housing Today
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