Boris Johnson’s £5bn plan for London

Source: Exec Digital UK

Date :21/11/2008 14:09:05

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has revealed plans to build 50,000 affordable new homes in London in an attempt to restart the slumping housing market.

It has just been announced that the plans involve 30,000 social housing units by 2012, and is aimed at helping middle-income families get on the property ladder. The plans also include £60 million to refurbish long-term empty properties, to ready them for becoming residential properties once again.

Additionally many developments which have been put on the back burner will be given public money to continue if they provide affordable homes. However, Johnson stopped short of keeping previous mayor Ken Livingstone’s statute that half of all new housing in each borough would be affordable.

Instead, under the new housing market, unsold new houses will be bought up to make them affordable. "These plans aim to put London on a strong footing for the eventual upturn in the housing market," stated Johnson.