Key workers to get more affordable homes under Mayor’s plan
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced a new proposal that could save key workers as much as £600 a month on their rent. The “innovative” proposal would deliver rent control homes to the capital, “and provide a new, simpler rent-setting model for developers to deliver thousands of these homes across the capital.”
In his manifesto for the 2024 election, Khan pledged to introduce a new form of rent control homes. They would see rents capped and linked to the income of key workers. This is part of the Mayor’s plan for affordable housing for Londoners.
These are the first steps to that end. The rent control homes would be built in addition to social rented homes and aimed at Londoners on ordinary incomes who are unlikely to secure social housing but may still struggle to pay high private rents. The aim is to begin at least 6,000 of these by 2030.
These new homes will be aimed primarily at key workers in London. To ensure they are affordable, Khan aims to link rents directly to the income of key workers. He has proposed rents being based on 40% of the average key worker household income after taxes. This is an established measure of affordability and mirrors the Mayor’s London Plan
These homes are not designed to be an alternative to social rented homes. Instead, they are for households with ordinary income for whom private rent is a struggle. They will build on the “pioneering” work developing London Living Rent.
“For Londoners,” according to a press release from City Hall, “this will mean a clearer, stronger link to keyworker incomes and a simpler rent-setting process. For builders it will mean more certainty over future rental income, so they can plan to deliver these homes at scale.”
The Mayor has already published a list of key worker occupations, based on official ONS definitions. This list includes the occupations of around a third of Londoners who work and covers both private and public sector occupations, including nurses, teachers, bus drivers and shop workers.
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