London housing associations pledge to tackle housing crisis
0The G15 group of London’s largest housing associations has promised to work with councils to deliver more homes for social rent and tackle homelessness.
The group made a series of pledges this week to the capital’s local authorities.
These include entering new not-for-profit partnerships, increasing the number of homes available under the Housing First programme to tackle homelessness, and signing up to the Commitment to Refer, which obliges public bodies to pass on the details of those who are homeless or threatened with homelessness to councils.
The G15 says it will share development expertise and collaborate on land acquisition with councils, and lobby the government for a higher rate of grant funding per home.
Paul Hackett chair of the G15 and chief executive of Optivo said: “Everyone recognises that solving this crisis can’t be left to traditional builders alone.
“For the first time in many years, councils’ ambitions to build more homes can become a reality and we stand side-by-side with them in our desire to deliver genuinely affordable homes.”
The pledges follow a series of policy and funding changes from central government.
These include reinstating the government grant for social rented homes, allowing councils to borrow to invest in housebuilding, and a commitment of £2bn in new money to be spent on affordable homes for a period stretching beyond the next Spending Review.
The G15’s plan has been developed with the umbrella group London Councils and City Hall.
Last year the G15 built more than a quarter of all new homes completed in the capital. The aim is to deliver 180,000 new homes in London and the south east by 2025.
