Sadiq: "Very Few" Affordable Homes Until 2018

7 June 2016, 12:22 | Updated: 26 August 2016, 11:15

London Mayor Sadiq Khan told James O'Brien that the "legacy of Boris" means that the number of affordable homes in the capital will be extremely limited for at least two years.

James O'Brien asked the Mayor what the worst surprise had been for him since taking over at City Hall and the immediate answer was affordable housing.

"We all know that very few affordable homes are built in London," said Sadiq.

"What surprised me - actually it shocked me - is, I asked the question: how many are in the pipeline? How many homes were given permission last year that are affordable?

"The figure is 13%. Let me tell you why that should scare us: it takes about 2-3 years from a home being given permission to being built. That means for the next 2-3 years, I'm afraid the legacy of Boris Johnson is very few affordable homes.

"That breaks my heart as a father, as a Mayor, as someone who cares about this city."

Khan promised that he was going to do what he could to tackle the issue: "I've asked TfL to find pieces of land which we can fastrack to use to build genuinely affordable homes."

Asked for the most positive surprise since he took office last month, Khan told James it was "the generosity of Londoners is quite remarkable.

"Not just people I meet on the bus and the Tube.

"What's clear to me is you've got thousands of staff at City Hall and elsewhere across London with pent-up energy, dynamism and ideas.

"I say this with humility, they've been waiting basically for someone to unleash the ideas they've got."