New strategic partnerships in London will lead to thousands of more affordable homes being built in the capital, the Mayor has announced.
Sadiq Khan has confirmed A2Dominion and Catalyst as new strategic partners with City Hall and a total of £288 million to deliver almost 5,000 additional new affordable homes.
The additional allocations are from the £1.67 billion Sadiq secured from Government for London in the Spring Statement, and will go towards his target to start 116,000 affordable homes by March 2022.
All of the 4,705 new affordable homes are due to start before March 2022, with 3,250 based on social rent levels and 1,449 London Living Rent or London Shared Ownership.
A2Dominion now has an overall starts target of 2,184 affordable homes by March 2022. Catalyst now has an overall starts target of 1,671 affordable homes by March 2022.
Alongside these new Strategic Partners the Mayor has confirmed additional allocations for two existing Strategic Partners, L&Q and Optivo. All of these are in addition to previously confirmed allocations.
These allocations are being confirmed ahead of the initial bidding deadline of 30 September. Additional allocations will be confirmed after that date and it is not too late for new proposals to be submitted to the GLA.
The strategic partnerships offer flexible funding conditions to housing associations that are willing to build at least 60 per cent affordable homes on new developments. A2Dominion and Catalyst join seven other strategic partnerships, formed in response to the Mayor’s first call for bids to the record breaking £4.82 billion affordable homes fund he secured from the Government.
The new partnerships bring City Hall’s strategic partners to nine – Clarion, Hyde, L&Q, Network, Notting Hill Genesis, Optivo, Peabody, A2Dominion and Catalyst.
All homes will be built to the highest standards and expected to meet the design and sustainability standards set out in the London Plan. Like all new buildings in London, they must meet stringent safety standards set by Government.
Measures include means of warning and escape, sprinklers, fire detection and fire alarm systems. The Mayor also expects all partners to deliver a high standard of housing management and resident services.
‘Thousands of Londoners are in desperate need of good quality, genuinely affordable homes, and it’s fantastic the Mayor is now able to confirm allocations to deliver almost 5,000 more, including through two new strategic partners,’ said James Murray, Deputy Mayor for housing and residential development.
‘Crucially, well over half of these homes will be based on social rent levels. Tackling the capital’s housing crisis is one of the Mayor’s top priorities, and he will continue to use all the powers and funding at his disposal to ensure that every Londoner has a place to call home that they can afford. But he can only go so far without the Government stepping up – it is crucial that Ministers give councils and City Hall the resources and powers we need for a step change in the number of affordable homes we can build,’ he added.
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