Plan approved to increase housing supply in Southwark

23 September 2019

Southwark Council adopts plans to increase the number of genuinely affordable homes, but calls on the government to do more to help.

Despite the challenges, Southwark Council is delivering one of the most ambitious home building schemes anywhere in the country and providing affordable housing for residents on all incomes.

Southwark provides more social rented housing than any other London Borough, it has the second highest house building target in London and is expected to accommodate an additional 27,360 new homes by 2025.

Since 2004 the council has permitted 41,350 homes and 21,777 of these have been built, providing 2,480 more social rented homes for the people of Southwark.

But there is still more to be done. The Housing Delivery Test Action Plan was agreed by the council’s Cabinet on Tuesday 17 September.

The plan sets out current housing in Southwark, projects that the council is already working on and its plans to increase the housing supply. To complement the plan the council will also be writing to the Ministry of Housing, communities and Local Government, to ask that it pledges to support local authorities in their commitment to address to the housing crisis.

Cllr Johnson Situ, Cabinet member for Growth, Development and Planning, said: “Southwark is a fantastic place to live with high attaining schools, award winning libraries, a record number of Green Flags for parks and more people working in the borough than ever before.

“But we know Southwark is no exception to the housing crisis across the capital. We have over 10,000 people on our waiting list, highlighting the importance of our pledge to build 11,000 new council homes across the borough by 2043.

“We also have a strong track record of building new genuinely affordable homes, and remain the only London borough to require social housing in new private developments. Our commitment to a minimum of 35 percent genuinely affordable housing reaffirms our pledge to use every tool at our disposal to respond to the housing crisis. But, we know that to truly address the crisis, we need the government to unlock a new wave of affordable house building, at scale.”

Page last updated: 23 September 2019