London mayor requests £470m from government to build homes

Sadiq Khan said building on brownfield sites could "unlock" 37,000 new homes

Sadiq Khan is calling on ministers to give City Hall £470m, which he said would enable the construction of tens of thousands of new homes on brownfield sites across London.

The mayor's request for funding comes as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt prepares to give his Autumn Statement on Wednesday.

City Hall said the money would "help unlock or accelerate" 76,000 homes.

The government says it has already announced hundreds of millions of pounds to regenerate unused land.

Among Mr Khan's priority areas for investment is east London, including the Royal Docks, where City Hall investments are currently supporting the building of more than 4,000 new homes.

Mr Khan was joined in his call for further funding by Newham mayor Rokhsana Fiaz, who said her borough faced "a growing housing crisis and 37,000 residents on our waiting list alone".

She added: "We are also facing growing cost pressures because too many people are being made homeless and we are having to place them in expensive temporary accommodation… so brownfield development needs to be given the green light in the Autumn statement."

A spokeswoman at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities did not directly respond to the mayor's request, but said: "We recently announced over £200m of new funding for London to regenerate unused brownfield land, including £53m to Old Oak West - a project that will deliver over 9,000 new homes and support 12,000 jobs.

"Through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act, we are supporting local authorities to prioritise brownfield sites for development and ensure local leaders have the resources and capacity to deliver efficiently on local planning matters."

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