Sadiq Khan has come out strongly in favour of Southwark Council’s controversial social housing ‘infill’ plans.
The London mayor told the News that he would “rather live in Southwark than in Wandsworth”, where his house is, because of Tooley Street’s council house building programme, which often involves putting up blocks on existing estates in the borough.
“I think Southwark residents should be incredibly proud they’ve got a council who are meeting the needs of Southwark residents,” he said.
“The housing Southwark builds is only for Southwark residents – no other residents are eligible for the council homes Southwark builds. Southwark is making tough choices, which is to build council homes at a time when other councils aren’t.
“And that means deciding to use car parks, garages, for homes… I tell you this, I’d rather live in Southwark than in Wandsworth, where I currently live.”
Khan was speaking from the back garden of a recently-finished terraced council house on Welsford Street in south Bermondsey last Wednesday morning (December 15). The house is one of ten new family homes built on the site of some former garages. New residents from the local area are set to move in early next year, paying £180 per week.
Southwark Council aims to build 11,000 homes by 2043, with at least 2,500 to be started by the local elections in May next year. The council has a huge waiting list for social rent homes of more than 16,000.
The Welsford Street homes were approved largely without controversy, but many infill schemes launched by the council have been plagued by claims of poor consultation and concerns of overshadowing on existing estate residents’ homes.
Asked whether the “tough choices” he referred to should be coming at the expense of people currently living on estates, Khan said: ” We have in our city a demand to build 60,000 homes. We’re building nowhere near 60,000 homes.
“That’s why you’ve got some of your readers who are adults sleeping on the sofas of their friends’ homes. That’s why you’ve got some of your readers [living] three generations in one property. That’s why you’ve got some of your readers – adults – sleeping on a bunkbed.
“What they need are council homes they can afford to live in. Thankfully what they’ve got is a brilliant council delivering.
The conversation with Khan came before Transport for London’s (TfL) current funding agreement was rolled over until February. Khan has long claimed that without more money to fill the £1.7bn hole the pandemic blew in TfL’s budget, 100 bus routes will have to be slashed and nearly ten per cent of Tube services will go.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps has claimed repeatedly that Khan’s office had been three weeks late handing over crucial documents for negotiations – a claim that Khan vehemently denied to the News.
Why should Southwark be spending millions on a station upgrade that may never happen?
As well as cuts to services, TfL has said that it will be forced to shelve most new infrastructure projects without serious investment from the government. That includes the Bakerloo line extension from Elephant and Castle, which is key to Southwark’s house building plans.
Despite this, council leader Kieron Williams told the News last week that Southwark has not given up on the Bakerloo line extension – but on Wednesday, Khan appeared to dash any hopes of the project coming to fruition.
“As I speak to you now, the southern extension of the Bakerloo line won’t be happening because of the government’s failure to give us long-term investment,” he said.
“What I do know is that southern extension of the Bakerloo line would lead to tens of thousands of jobs being created, tens of thousands of new homes that your readers desperately want, and the obstacle is the government not giving finances.”
A spokesperson for the department of transport said that TfL has had £4bn from the government since the start of the pandemic, as well as a promise of £1bn annually in this year’s spending review.
Khan pointed out the Northern line extension to Battersea and Nine Elms from Kennington, which was completed earlier this year, and asked why a similar project couldn’t happen in Southwark.
Elephant and Castle tube: Southwark Council spending £63m on ‘undeliverable’ station upgrade
“The reason why your readership should be angry is they can see across [south London] in Wandsworth, the Northern Line extension, the new stations in Nine Elms and Battersea, that has led to more than 25,000 new homes and tens of thousands of new jobs.
“If it’s good enough for Tory Wandsworth, why isn’t it good enough for Labour Southwark?”
At about £1bn, the Northern Line extension was roughly five times cheaper than the Bakerloo line extension would be. Around £700m of the Northern Line Extension was paid for by developers at Nine Elms, the News understands.
Land values along the Old Kent Road mean these kind of payments would be unlikely to come from developers there, so more of the funding would have to come from local authorities – Southwark and Lewisham – and TfL.
“The Bakerloo line extension came at an age where London would have big transport project after big transport project – that time has passed,” a transport planning source told the News.
The night before the conversation, Khan’s former mayoral rival, the Conservative Shaun Bailey, stepped down from his role as chair of the London Assembly’s police and crime committee after the Mirror published a photo of him at a “raucous” party at Tory party headquarters in the middle of lockdown last December.
Khan condemned the photos on Wednesday and added that he thought Bailey’s position was untenable.
A spokesperson for Bailey’s campaign said: “This was a serious error of judgement and we fully accept that a gathering like this at that time was wrong and we apologise unreservedly”.
Bailey’s office did not respond to a request for a further response to Khan’s comments.
Khan didnt have any problems with the Bakerloo Line extension to the luxury flats at Battersea
So if he would rather live in Southwark why doesn’t he?
Because he knows how useless the council really is.
Meeting the needs of Southwark residents my a*%#
Labour and Khan are so out of tune with people here in Southwark. Maybe I’ll give them a poke in the eye and vote Lib Dem next time and hope you will too.
I.aint got a problem with the bakerloo line but what about all the family that’s been on the housing list 13 year or more and ain’t been removed because the council think it OK because they live with other family knowing that person is at a age where they don’t want there daughters or son living with them with there own family, and they end up having to go in temporary accommodation ,and where there ain’t enough social housing the council asking family if they would think about going private knowing they can’t afford it and knowing how long some family have been waiting on the list for a place there ain’t enough council homes and that other people are being put first before people who have live herd all they lives and they are in temporary accommodation and work and pay there national insurance and there tax ,and also if they have a child with special needs is expectal to be put in there or be put somewhere else in the country where they got no family near them .stop letting this private companies to say what the council can have knowing its there land ,and the council
letting know how many property’s they want when they build them, knowing there is a housing problem, and think about who needs them and how bad the housing is, I am a shame that I live in southwark and yet I can’t get a home for me and my son who as austim and I lived in southwark all my life ,everyone as the right to a home ,but people who been there 13 years or more should be rehoused before anyone else