Part of government grants for London boroughs to build new affordable homes will be used to buy existing homes under a new plan announced by London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Greater London Authority said on Friday that councils can bid for money from the new Council Homes Acquisition Programme (CHAP) so they can buy homes in their boroughs from the private market and turn them into social rented housing or temporary accommodation for homeless households.
The mayor said CHAP is “the first part” of his plan to buy “10,000 homes over the next decade.”
Guidance for the programme show it would provide up to £200,000 per home for social rented housing and up to £85,000 per home for temporary accommodation.
The scheme is a similar but broader version of Khan’s earlier Right to Buy Back programme which funded councils’ re-purchasing of previous council homes sold through the Right to Buy programme.
Mr. Khan’s office said the programme, which ended in March, saw over 1,200 homes acquired by councils.
Homes bought with CHAP funding must meet the Decent Homes Standard and building safety standards, City Hall said.
Affordable housing is housing for sale or rent for those who can’t afford to pay the market value. To qualify for affordable housing grants, a property needs to be sold or rented at around 20 percent below local market prices.
Launching CHAP on Friday, Mr. Khan said, “I’ve put council housing at the heart of my plan to boost homebuilding in the capital, and I’m proud that we’re now building more council homes in London than at any time since the 1970s—and more than the rest of the country combined.
“My new Council Homes Acquisition Programme will allow boroughs to move at pace to increase the number of council homes in our city, offering a lifeline for thousands of Londoners who are facing high housing costs, as the first part of my ambitious goal for councils to buy 10,000 homes over the next decade,” the Labour mayor added.
“I will continue to take decisive steps to address the social housing crisis, stemming the tide of loss, and replenishing London’s council house stock. Bringing these homes into public ownership is a key part of my plan to build a better London for everyone—a city that is greener, fairer, and more prosperous for all.”
In May, Mr. Khan boasted of a “record-breaking housing delivery” for starting 25,000 affordable homes in 2022 and surpassing the target of starting 116,000 affordable homes under the £4.8 billion AHP 2016–2023.
But no new affordable homes have started under AHP 2021–2026 in the past two years.
Mr. Copley told the Committee that the DLUHC had agreed on a number of flexibilities so the GLA can continue to deliver affordable homes, including raising the acquisitions cap.
“Within the programme, originally there was a 10 percent cap on acquisitions unless the homes were obsolete. That acquisitions cap is now 30 percent, however acquisitions of second-hand homes is still at ten percent,” Mr. Copley said.
According to Mr. Copley, the acquisitions cap is now up to 30 percent for off-the-shelf developer builds, but remains at 10 percent for second-hand homes unless the homes are obsolete.
This could mean between 2,390–2,710 homes may be bought through CHAP assuming they are all second-hand homes but more could be purchased if councils are able to secure cheaper newly-built.
