The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has announced a new programme to continue the city’s council housing revolution, as part of a new ambition to see boroughs buy 10,000 new homes over

the next decade. The Mayor’s innovative new Council Homes Acquisition Programme (CHAP) will give councils access to funds to purchase homes from the private market, responding to Londoners’ urgent need for social housing and temporary accommodation.

The need for new council homes has never been greater, with London boroughs grappling with the financial and social costs of a ballooning homelessness crisis. Over 170,000 Londoners are currently living in insecure temporary accommodation, including more than 83,000 children, with many families stuck in unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation. This means that 1 in 23 children is without a secure place to call home. This is also putting a huge strain on already stretched council finances.

All London boroughs will be able to bid for funding from the new programme. All homes funded through CHAP must comply with the Decent Homes Standard and meet strict building safety standards. Homes will also need to be within boroughs’ boundaries to ensure residents can stay rooted in their local communities. Local authorities will be able to purchase a wide range of homes from the private market, including former council homes lost to Right to Buy, which over the past four decades has driven down London’s overall number of council homes.

CHAP is one of the key mechanisms that the Mayor is championing to help increase the supply of council housing across London following initiatives such as the Mayor’s Right to Buy-back scheme which saw over 1,200 homes acquired by councils, the landmark £1bn Building Council Homes for Londoners grant funding programme, and his £10m Homebuilding Capacity Fund.

Mayor of London, Sadiq 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.

“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.”

Mayor of Lewisham, Damien Egan, said: “Tackling the housing crisis is one of the biggest challenges facing councils in London. Alongside our existing council house building programme in Lewisham and the success of the Mayor of London’s Right to Buy-back scheme, this funding will help address the desperate need for more social housing and temporary accommodation in our borough.”

This new programme also responds to one of the main recommendations of the Mayor’s London Housing Delivery Taskforce, which comprises leaders from across London’s private and public housebuilding sector, who met in September 2023 to discuss solutions to overcoming major challenges currently impacting levels of housebuilding in London.

The long-term solution to this crisis is the creation of more genuinely affordable council homes, and the Mayor is doing everything in his power to keep up pace and momentum in helping councils to build these homes for Londoners.

Under the Mayor’s leadership and thanks to the efforts of boroughs, London has entered a golden era of council housebuilding. Since 2018, more than 23,000 council homes have been built – or are being built – with the help of City Hall funding. London has completed more homes of all types in recent years than at any time since the 1930s and delivered higher council homebuilding than at any time since the 1970s – more than the rest of the country combined.

Earlier this year, Sadiq met the hugely ambitious affordable homebuilding target of starting 116,000 homes, set under the Government’s 2016-23 Affordable Homes Programme. Nationally, Ministers have failed to meet their target, and the Mayor has continued to call for unallocated funding to be given to London to spend In order to meet the 10,000 council homes aim and address growing demand for genuinely affordable homes.