Mayoral candidates outline plans to tackle London's housing crisis

Tooting MP Sadiq Khan was chosen as Labour's candidate last month. In a speech at last week's Labour Party conference Khan said he would make the mayoral election "a referendum on London's housing crisis".

Khan said that, should he be elected mayor in May, he would set up an expert team called Housing for Londoners to "plan, fund and deliver the new homes Londoners need". He said he would introduce a living rent in the capital, ensure that local people were given first refusal on homes built in London and "insist that half of all new homes are genuinely affordable".

Khan pledged to build more homes for first time buyers and to lobby central government for more powers over housing. On hearing that MP for Richmond Park Zac Goldsmith had been chosen as the Conservative Party's mayoral candidate, Khan challenged Goldsmith to join him in opposing the government's Housing Bill, which he said would "make our city's housing crisis many times worse".

Accepting his party's nomination last week, Goldsmith described the housing crisis as the "biggest challenge of all" facing the capital. He said a step change was required in the delivery of homes, both in terms of the number of homes and how they were built.

In an article in the Telegraph newspaper last month, Goldsmith argued that there was "more than enough brownfield land in London to meet our housing needs". He said he expected "vast swaths" of potential brownfield development land would discovered by London's land commission and recommended the redevelopment of London's 1950s and 1960s housing estates to provide "low-rise, high-density streetscapes".

Like Khan, Goldsmith said London should have more powers over housing, including the power to retain more of the tax raised in the capital. A statement on the Conservative candidate's campaign website also recommended "a London-first bias for new developments". However, Goldsmith did not express opposition to the government's Housing Bill, stating only that he would campaign "to ensure right-to-buy receipts raised in London stay in London, and are ring-fenced to build more housing in the capital".

The Conservative candidate expressed support for longer-term private tenancies and "more certainty over rent increases". He said there should be a focus on the provision of affordable homes for young professionals and suggested that an investment fund could be set up to help fund the construction of new homes on publicly-owned brownfield land

Planning expert Susanne Andreasen of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: "The focus by both Mayoral candidates on measures to deal with London's ever-increasing housing need is expected and necessary. Goldsmith's approach of prioritising affordable homes for young professionals is much in line with that of the government, including its recently announced proposals for 'starter homes', and is likely to be welcomed by property developers. Khan's intention to increase the affordable housing target in schemes to 50% is likely to be popular with local authorities."

"There is also a contrast between Khan's comprehensive plans to improve circumstances for private tenants and Goldsmith's focus on home ownership. It will be interesting to follow the campaigns of both candidates in the coming months and to see more detailed proposals of policies they intend to introduce," Andreasen said.