The Housing Committee of the Greater London Authority Council met on Thursday 24 September 2026 to discuss the Mayor's Affordable Homes Programmes. The Committee heard from representatives of local authorities and housing associations about the challenges and successes in delivering affordable housing across London. Key discussions focused on meeting delivery targets, the impact of rising costs and regulatory changes, and the design of future affordable housing programmes.

Affordable Housing Delivery and Targets

Representatives from the London Borough of Barnet, London Borough of Waltham Forest, L&Q Group, and The Riverside Group provided updates on their delivery against affordable housing targets. While some organisations, like L&Q Group, exceeded their targets, others, such as The Riverside Group, fell slightly short. The panel discussed the difficulties in meeting targets due to factors like rising build costs, labour shortages, and the impact of global events.

Luke Ward, Director for Housing, Economy and Placemaking for the London Borough of Barnet, highlighted that councils are crucial in convening different elements needed to deliver homes, especially in challenging market conditions. He noted that while commercial developers may struggle, public services and RPs can act in a counter-cyclical way.

Challenges in Delivery and Future Programmes

A significant portion of the discussion revolved around the challenges faced in delivering affordable housing. Neil Davis, Development Delivery Director at L&Q Group, pointed to the impact of regulatory changes, such as mandatory second staircases, and the general turmoil in the market, including rising interest rates and construction costs. He also mentioned the difficulty in securing timely practical completion dates for schemes.

The panel also discussed the design of the new London Social and Affordable Homes Programme (LSAHP) 2026-36. Key themes included the need for more flexible and realistic grant rates, consideration for habitable rooms and larger family homes, and greater certainty around funding. There was a call for more upfront grant availability to speed up decisions and delivery, and for grant rates to potentially be tiered based on values in different London regions or based on habitable rooms.

Support Needed from the Greater London Authority

Delivery partners expressed a need for greater flexibility on practical completion dates and certainty around grant funding. They also highlighted the importance of genuine conversations with the GLA to overcome delivery challenges. Suggestions included exploring low-interest loans and making better use of funding constraints.

The Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development, Tom Copley, acknowledged the challenges but pointed to the ten-year funding settlement, the CHDIF, the Draft London Plan, and the NHA as positive steps. He emphasised the GLA's commitment to supporting housing delivery through various initiatives and collaborations.

Specific Housing Needs and Land Issues

The Committee also touched upon the need for specialist and supported housing, particularly accessible homes for disabled Londoners. Luke Ward noted that while Barnet does not have specific targets, they are developing a policy to address the gap between the requirement for accessible homes and what is available.

Regarding land prices, Neil Davis stated that land prices are currently lower than in historical highs, but other factors like build costs and servicing debt are more significant issues. He also mentioned that L&Q is not actively buying land at the moment due to sufficient land banking. The discussion also touched upon the complexities of public bodies disposing of land and the tension between the duty to deliver best value and the need to deliver housing for local people.

Data and Reporting

There was a discussion about the transparency of data and reporting. While the GLA publishes quarterly statistics on starts and completions, there was a request for more detailed annual trajectories for the 2026-36 programme to enable better accountability. The GLA expressed caution about publishing annual targets due to potential commercial risks and the desire to maximise delivery each year. However, they committed to providing a global target agreed with the Government and reporting on progress quarterly. The GLA also committed to improving data collection on accessible homes and providing further details on demolitions in estate regeneration schemes.