Who will fix London’s housing crisis?

With just hours to go until voting for the London mayoral election closes, housing remains a key issue with all the leading candidates for mayor of London having placed it at the heart of their campaigns.

So what are the main London mayoral candidates’ positions on housing?

Sadiq Khan (Labour)

Labour Mayoral hopeful Sadiq Khan has vowed to deliver 80,000 new homes in the capital each year, 50% of which will be affordable, by freeing up more brownfield land for housebuilding. He also wants to form a ‘new homes’ division in City Hall, set up a not-for-profit letting agency, aim to restrict rent rises, and invest more in the London Affordable Homes Programme.

Zac Goldsmith (Conservative)

The Conservative candidate has also pledged to focus on releasing publicly-owned brownfield land for the construction of more residential properties, with a view to delivering 50,000 new homes a year in London by 2020, financed in part by a new pan-London investment fund for overseas investors. He also wants to bring thousands of vacant homes back into use, get tough on rogue landlords, and introduce longer term tenancies.

Caroline Pidgeon (Liberal Democrats)

Caroline Pidgeon wants to boost new housing supply in the capital, including significantly more council homes at affordable rent levels. She also wants all private landlords in the capital to be registered, introduce a ‘right to buy’ for tenants if the landlord decides to sell, abolish letting agency fees for tenants and promote three- to five-year tenancies.

Sian Berry (Green Party)

Sian Berry is demanding that the mayor of London be given greater rent controls, as part of efforts to help private renters in the capital. She also believes that there should be a voluntary landlord registration in place, as well as a new Renters’ Union, financed by City Hall, designed to provide tenants with greater support and advice.

Peter Whittle (UKIP)

Aside from lobby for “sensible migration” levels to help restrict demand for housing, Peter Whittle has pledged to boost housebuilding levels. He believes that a comprehensive registry of all London’s brownfield sites is crucial to boosting the supply of land for the construction of new homes. Whittle has also proposed taxing buy-to-let landlords at a higher rate if they leave their homes empty and offering long-term residents in London priority when it comes to social housing.