New plans are in place to introduce a panel of experts whose task it is to supervise the building of new and affordable homes in London. The group of industry insiders such as finance surveyors and property consultants will collectively be called the Homes for Londoners team and recruitment to the special panel has already begun.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is behind the introduction of the team which will oversee new homes construction work in the capital, and has been recruiting property experts who will examine and analyse what he describes as ‘viability assessments’, which basically involves the economic logistics underlying the development of affordable new homes.
Expert Squad to Speed-Up Decision-Making Process
The team of experts will operate out of City Hall in Southwark on the south bank of the Thames River, and there they will hopefully speed up the delivery of new housing by streamlining the decision making process by simply making those decisions faster due to their incisive knowledge as well as the close proximity of each of the decision makers. They will also be tasked with ensuring any new housing developments include the maximum amount of affordable housing that they are supposed to.
The team of experts will have a board to answer to (so to speak), led by the Mayor of London himself, which will be formed of various members of housing associations, construction developers and representatives of the London Boroughs. This board will then monitor the various aspects of the process such as the delivery of affordable housing, land assembly and any investment decisions made by the panel of experts. This ensures the new crack squad of decision-makers still answer to those with a vested interest in the development of affordable housing in the capital.
Mayor Says Affordable Housing Needs Time
Although the Mayor of London was happy with these recent developments, he did warn Londoners that the positive impact that affordable housing will eventually have is going to take some time. Mr Khan said, “Home ownership has been slipping increasingly out of reach for more and more Londoners, and rents have been getting harder and harder to afford. I want to be honest with Londoners from the start that it will take time to turn things around.
“I am determined that Londoners get the same opportunities this great city gave me. That is why I am setting up my Homes for Londoners team to speed up home building and to move towards 50% of new homes in London being genuinely affordable to rent and buy.”
