Less than half the 116,000 affordable homes that have been started in London since 2016 have been completed, new research revealed on Thursday.
The London Assembly’s annual housing monitor report said that only 55,027 of the homes had been completed by March this year.
The remainder are not due to be finished until 2029, with about 2,700 taking until early next decade before tenants can move in.
In addition, none of the 23,900 to 27,200 affordable homes that Mayor Sadiq Khan has promised between 2021 and 2026, under the second phase of the capital’s Government-funded housing programme, have been started.
Lord Bailey, Tory chairman of the assembly’s housing committee, said: “Londoners cannot move into half-built homes.”
It was announced earlier this year that Mr Khan had hit the target of starting 116,000 homes between 2016-23, though this included 7,189 started when Boris Johnson was still mayor.
The Standard also revealed in August that only three City Hall-funded affordable homes were started in London between April and June this year, with the funding coming from a separate pot of cash to the £4bn available between 2021-26.
The assembly’s latest report accepted that Mr Khan had hit the 116,000 target, which used £4.82bn of Government cash to subsidise affordable homes across the capital.
The 2021-26 target was reduced from 35,000 starts to between 23,900 to 27,200 starts, due to soaring construction costs, after negotiations between City Hall and the Government.
But of the homes started between 2016-23, a total of 61,755 remain to be completed.
In 2022/23, a total of 13,949 homes were completed in London.
Of the affordable homes finished under the first housebuilding programme, Tower Hamlets had the highest number of completions (5,555) followed by Newham (4,709), Brent (4,376), Ealing (4,171) and Southwark (2,781).
Mr Khan has promised that a greater proportion of affordable homes built under the new programme will be available at “social rent” levels – meaning at about half the local market rate.
The assembly warned that the number of homes being provided is “far below” the level of need. City Hall data suggests 31,000 low-rent homes are needed every year.
Lord Bailey, the defeated 2021 Tory mayoral candidate, said: "Ensuring there are enough high quality affordable homes for Londoners must be an absolute priority for the mayor, having been granted a total of £8.82bn by the Government for the 2016-23 and 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programmes.
“A lack of housing leads to Londoners being forced to live in sub-standard homes, which are often overcrowded and overpriced.
"Many people struggle to get onto the housing ladder, with house prices increasing faster than earnings. As no homes have yet been started on the £4bn 2021-26 programme, it is also important that the Mayor gets moving on this as soon as possible.”
The affordable homes programme in London operates by City Hall allocating Government funding to local authorities and housing associations, often with some conditions set in return for the cash.
Between 2016-23, the funding provided 15 to 20 per cent of the total cost of providing the homes.
Councils and housing associations can either build new homes or buy or regenerate existing homes.
About 12 per cent or 16,000 properties out of the 116,782 started between 2016-23 were converted from market sale to affordable homes, or were homes that were demolished and rebuilt.
A spokesperson for Mr Khan said: "Unlike the Government, Sadiq has met his 116,000 affordable homes target in full, putting London in a strong position to carry on delivering the affordable homes London needs.
"In addition, under Sadiq, London has completed more homes of all types in recent years than at any time since the 1930s and delivered higher council homebuilding thanâ¯at any time since the 1970s."
The spokesperson added that the 2021-26 housing programme was not signed off by the Government until July this year, "meaning it was impossible for any new homes to be started in the first quarter of this financial year as a result".
