The Greater London Authority (GLA) is facing mounting pressure to launch a full investigation into explosive allegations that its officials encouraged developers to dig trenches simply to artificially inflate affordable housing statistics.
Serious Allegations Surface
Tim Craine, founder of prominent London development analysts Molior, has made startling claims that the GLA's housing department embellished affordable housing figures. He alleges officials instructed developers, housing associations and local authorities to physically dig a trench on development sites, allowing them to register the project as having technically begun construction.
Mr Craine stated the Mayor should be livid about these allegations, accusing Sir Sadiq Khan of potentially misleading voters during last year's election campaign. The controversy centres on the GLA's announcement in April 2023 that construction had started on 25,658 affordable homes during the previous year, bringing the total during the Mayor's tenure to approximately 116,000.
Political Pressure Mounts
Conservative Housing spokesman Lord Bailey has now written formal letters to both the GLA's CEO Mary Harpley and Deputy Mayor for Housing Tom Copley, demanding an extensive investigation. In a letter seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Lord Bailey wrote: If data around the number of affordable housing starts in London is found to have been misreported... this would be a very serious matter indeed.
He emphasised that inaccuracies could have given Londoners a false impression of the GLA's progress on homebuilding. Lord Bailey also highlighted that developers receive payment from the GLA for registering a start, raising potential concerns about how taxpayer money is being spent.
Mayor's Response and Wider Context
When confronted with these allegations at Mayor's Question Time on Thursday, November 20, Sir Sadiq Khan responded that it was the first time he had heard the claims and needed time to consider them properly. He described the assertions as very serious and committed to having his chief officer look into the matter.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London defended the GLA's record, stating: GLA statistics on the starts and completions of homes by any tenure are transparent and accurate. They attributed broader challenges in housebuilding to a perfect storm of high interest rates, rising construction costs, pandemic impacts and Brexit consequences.
The issue of affordable housing delivery remains particularly sensitive for the Mayor, with the latest GLA data revealing just 1,239 starts on affordable homes from April to September this year, compared to 3,991 throughout the entire previous financial year.
Furthermore, the GLA and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government recently agreed to lower London's target for the Affordable Homes Programme (2021-2026) by over a fifth. With only 6,370 affordable homes started since the programme was signed off in 2023, serious doubts persist about whether City Hall can meet even these revised targets.
