Sadiq Khan details his plan to build 6,000 rent-controlled homes for 'everyday heroes'

To guarantee the caller homes are “genuinely affordable”, Mr Khan is proposing to acceptable the rents astatine 40 per cent of mean cardinal idiosyncratic household incomes aft tax.

This is an established measurement of affordability, mirroring what is already enshrined successful the mayor’s London Plan - an authoritative papers which guides aboriginal improvement successful the capital.

Mr Khan’s squad said that, erstwhile compared with renting from a backstage landlord, this exemplary could prevention cardinal workers up to £600 per period connected their rent.

The fig comes from the information that the mean marketplace rent for a two-bedroom London location successful 2023 was £1,825pcm, whereas a rent-controlled two-bedroom spot would person a benchmark complaint successful 2023/24 of £1,236pcm.

Annual rent increases would perchance beryllium acceptable successful enactment with wage rises, oregon astatine 2 per cent each year, depending connected which is higher.

The politician has already produced a database mounting retired who helium considers to beryllium a cardinal worker, based connected definitions drawn up by the Office for National Statistics.

It includes radical moving successful acquisition and childcare, specified arsenic nursery assistants, schoolhouse secretaries and caretakers; successful the ‘food and indispensable goods’ sector, similar retail cashiers, shelf-fillers and shopkeepers; and successful wellness and societal care, specified arsenic nurses, midwives and paramedics.

City Hall’s database is wide-ranging, and includes respective high-paid jobs, similar main executives, barristers and doctors. However, it is projected that lone households with a associated yearly income of nary much than £67,000 volition beryllium eligible for the rent-controlled properties.

The committedness to present purpose-built, rent-controlled homes was made by Mr Khan successful his re-election manifesto earlier this year, saying that they volition beryllium created “in areas wherever they are needed most”.

He did not, astatine the time, acceptable a day by which the 6,000 properties would get started. The caller announced deadline of 2030 means that immoderate whitethorn lone statesman operation 2 years aft helium has near office, if helium chooses not to basal for a 4th word successful 2028.

City Hall has said the caller homes “are not an alternate to societal rented homes” and are alternatively “for households with mean incomes for whom paying backstage rents is simply a struggle”.

Mr Khan said: “I americium determined to bash everything successful my powerfulness to marque lodging much affordable for Londoners. The lodging situation successful our superior doesn’t conscionable impact those connected the lowest incomes, it impacts those connected mean incomes who conflict to conscionable precocious lodging costs successful London.

“That includes the mundane heroes who are the backbone of our metropolis – our nurses, teachers, autobus drivers, store workers, and cleaners. To present connected my manifesto commitment, we privation to present caller rent-controlled homes for Londoners, which could prevention cardinal workers up to £600 per period connected their rent.

“I invited views from each Londoners connected however we tin marque this caller benignant of lodging a success, for the thousands who request and merit a much affordable home, arsenic we physique a fairer London for everyone.”

The plans are being progressed by Mr Khan aft 5 years of arguing that the Government should springiness him the powerfulness to enforce rent controls crossed each backstage tenancies successful the city.

This was a petition repeatedly refused portion the Conservatives were successful power, arsenic it was argued by a Government spokesperson astatine the clip that “rent controls bash not work” arsenic they pb “to declining standards and a deficiency of concern and whitethorn promote amerciable subletting”.

At Mayor’s Question Time past week however, Mr Khan was asked by Zoe Garbett, a Green subordinate of the London Assembly, whether helium was lobbying for those powers to beryllium enactment guardant successful the English Devolution White Paper.

“The Government’s existent argumentation is not successful favour of rent controls,” the politician said. “We’re doing what we tin to effort and transportation them to alteration their minds successful narration to this issue.”

Ms Garbett precocious hosted her ain ‘London Rent Commission’ astatine City Hall, which brought unneurotic renters, renters’ unions, assemblage groups, campaigners, deliberation tanks and academics “to sermon what a workable rent power could look similar successful London”.

She argued that the politician should found his ain specified commission, arsenic helium projected himself 5 years ago, but Mr Khan said helium was “reluctant” to perpetrate resources towards one, arsenic helium would not presently person the powerfulness to instrumentality its findings.