Housing strategies for the new mayor, seminar blog

Just five days after Sadiq Khan’s election, 40 of London’s leading authorities on housing, planning and development came to an LSE London seminar to discuss what the new mayor might do to address the capital’s top priority: housing. The seminar was framed by two presentations. Kath Scanlon outlined Khan’s manifesto promises relating to housing development which can be summarised as more homes; more investment both public and private; more homes for Londoners; and more affordable homes. Tony Travers then tracked the evolution of the Mayor’s powers from a prohibition on housing expenditure at the inception of the GLA in 2000 to the transfer of HCA powers during the Coalition government, and asked whether further devolution would help meet the challenges of providing housing for a growing world city.