Questions to the Mayor of London – answered at on 22 January 2021.
Given you have stated that baseline conditions for the Affordable Housing Programme (AHP) 2021-26 were set in November, can you confirm if you will be putting in place any further conditions, in addition to the baseline ones, for Strategic Partners and Approved Providers once funding allocations are announced, as happened in the last AHP (2016-20)?
My new £4 billion Affordable Homes Programme 2021-2026 sets out a number of new conditions and requirements that apply to all investment partners, which aim to increase the quality, safety, design and sustainability of new affordable housing in London. Funding agreement templates will be published shortly and will reflect these requirements. My Deputy Mayor Tom Copley wrote to partners on 22 January 2021 to outline an expectation that shared ownership homes built through the programme are offered 999-year leases where it is possible to do so (for example due to the basis of land ownership). There are no current plans to introduce further conditions on investment partners at this stage, however it is possible that changes may be required in the future – for example, to implement new requirements imposed by central Government.