Calls to delay introduction of Building Safety Levy to kickstart work
City Hall is failing to hit its housebuilding targets despite reducing them last year, new figures show.
The latest affordable housing monitor published by the London Assembly showed that the mayor of London’s portion of the Affordable Homes Programme 2021-26 had delivered a cumulative 14,335 affordable housing starts by March 2026.
The figure was short of the target of 17,800-19,000, which had itself been reduced in March 2025 from 23,900-27,200.
Sadiq Khan’s office has had control of £4bn of grant under the Affordable Homes Programme for 2021-26, with the programme delivered by Homes England in other parts of the country.
Responding to the figures, Stephanie Pollitt, programme director for housing at BusinessLDN, a business advocacy group, said it was a “stark reminder” of London’s housing crisis and of “the urgent need to kickstart delivery”.
“Housebuilders are facing a perfect storm, with viability in London particularly challenging, so we now need to go further and faster.
“That includes reconsidering the introduction of the Building Safety Levy – a tax on new homes – later this year, increased transport investment to unlock sites for housing and giving London the powers it needs to accelerate delivery through greater devolution and innovative funding models.”
The monitor also showed that 73% of homes funded by the previous affordable homes programme (2016-23) had been completed, with 32,081 still to be finished.
A total of 8,773 have been built under that £4.8bn scheme.
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