Latest News

The draft Mayor's Housing Strategy was produced under the previous Mayor, Ken Livingstone (Labour). The new mayor, Boris Johnson (Conservative), will alter the strategy to fit with his political priorities.

Whilst Mayor Johnson seems unlikely to re-write the strategy, he intends to make some key changes. The Mayor's housing policy priorities contain several new initiatives across all types of housing tenure. Key points related to homelessness and housing need include:

• More affordable housing - the new Mayor will retain the ambition to deliver 50 000 new affordable homes by 2011.
• 50% target - the previous draft strategy set boroughs a statutory target for 50% of new homes to be affordable. Mayor Johnson will scrap this target to allow more flexibility and to work more collaboratively with boroughs.
• Type of affordable housing - the previous draft strategy aimed for 70% of affordable housing to be social rented; 30% intermediate housing. Mayor Johnson will change this to 60% social rented housing; 40% intermediate housing, reflecting his priority to help first time buyers.

Mayor Johnson aims to publish his revised draft housing strategy in late 2008.

Overview

As part of the additional powers proposed in the GLA Bill , the Mayor will produce a statutory Housing Strategy for London and a Strategic Housing Investment Plan. He will have strategic control over housing investment in London, particularly for affordable housing, and set the priorities to meet the housing needs of all Londoners. He will also have more power to intervene in planning decisions if they are strategically important. The Mayor's Housing Strategy will build on the current London Housing Strategy .

In November 2006 the Mayor published a consultation document Towards the Mayor's Housing Strategy , outlining key issues he sought feedback on. Although the Mayor highlighted certain issues, this was a broad consultation inviting the views of all Londoners on any housing related topics. The consultation period ended in February 2007.

After considering the responses, the Mayor published the draft Mayor's Housing Strategy in September 2007. Some important issues that Homeless Link highlighted in our response are addressed in the draft Strategy, which includes substantial references to homelessness.

Key themes for homelessness in the draft Mayor's Housing Strategy (2007) included:

• More affordable homes - sets a target of 50 000 new affordable homes between 2008- 2011, the majority of which should be social rented.
• Ending Rough Sleeping by 2012 - The Mayor has committed to support Homeless Link's target and asked all strategic partners to review their contribution to achieving this.
• Move on from hostels - recognises the issue and the need for different approaches to increasing this. It mentions OSW's Transitional Spaces Project, Homeless Link's Move On Plans Protocol and the Move On Alternatives Project are examples of successful work in this area.

The draft Mayor's Housing Strategy opened for a period of formal consultation (after the GLA Bill became law), before the Mayor could publish his final Housing Strategy.

In May 2008, Boris Johnson was elected as Mayor, replacing Ken Livingstone. Mayor Johnson will alter the draft Mayor's housing strategy to reflect his political priorities. Whilst he seems unlikely to re-write the strategy, he does intends to make some key changes.

The Mayor's housing policy priorities contain several new initiatives across all types of housing tenure. Mayor Johnson aims to publish his revised draft housing strategy in late 2008.

See our Background Breifings for more details.

Homeless Link's response

Homeless Link's London team identified key issues impacting on homelessness within 'Towards the Mayor's Housing strategy' and the wider strategy area. We consulted with our member agencies on these issues, and others they felt were important. We then submitted a consultation response reflecting the views of our member agencies.

Consultation with people experiencing homelessness: We also worked with the GLA to give people experiencing homelessness the chance to have their say. We offered front line homelessness agencies consultation kits, giving background information on the Mayor's Housing Strategy, tips for running consultations and outlining some key issues the GLA was keen to hear their service users' views on. We also held a workshop looking at the issues and conducting a good consultation. Several agencies consulted their service users, and the views they gave were submitted to the GLA. The GLA's summary of responses outlines the main points raised through these consultations. Participants also received a letter from the Mayor thanking them for their contribution.

Background Briefings

Below are breifings giving more details on the background to the Mayor's Housing Strategy:

• The draft Mayor's Housing Strategy - a timetable for consultation and key points for homelessness - September 2007

• Towards the Mayor's Housing Strategy summary - HL detailed summary of the consultation document or access the full document . December 2006

• Timetable for the Mayor's Housing Strategy - HL briefing - October 2006

• DCLG final proposal - HL overview - September 2006

• Distribution of powers - HL update

• The Mayor's new powers - overview of changes and their likely implications

Media

Below are links to press releases related to the transfer of housing powers to the Mayor.

• Mayor welcomes Secretary of State's action against weak housing targets - GLA press release 3-10-07

• Backing the bid - the Mayor supports our campaign to end rough sleeping by 2012.

• London Councils' response - questioning the GLA poll result

• GLA poll - majority of Londoners support the Mayor's new powers

• London Councils' poll - majority of Londoners oppose the Mayor's new powers

• The case against - London Councils oppose the increase in powers of the GLA