The latest affordable housing figures from the Greater London Authority reveal Sadiq Khan has started building a grand total of just three affordable homes this quarter, and zero under the under the Council Homes for Londoners 2021-2026 programme. A programme for which he received a whopping £4 billion in government funding…

Despite claiming just months ago that building new homes “is key to safeguarding the soul of our city”, the table below shows not a single brick has been laid between April and June for the Homes for Londoners scheme, putting him years behind his target. There’s a lot of “zeros”…

City Hall Conservatives housing spokesperson Shaun Bailey said this morning:

“Sadiq Khan has fallen years behind the latest housing targets and is failing to deliver the affordable, family homes that Londoners need. He has started only three affordable homes this quarter and zero under the current £4bn programme.”

Meanwhile Khan blabbers on about rent controls and “pull out all the stops to crack London’s housing crisis“. Three houses in three months is now considered “pulling out all the stops”…

UPDATE: Sadiq Khan’s team push back, blaming the government for “delayed signing off on funding for [the] Programme until July”. A spokesperson tells Guido:

“Under Sadiq, the building of genuinely affordable homes in London has hit the highest overall level since records began and council housebuilding last year was higher than at any time since the 1970s.

The Government delayed signing off on funding for the Mayor’s 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme until July so it was impossible for any new homes to be started in the first quarter of this financial year. This unnecessary delay has slowed down progress and is disappointing given City Hall’s success in delivering a record-breaking 116,782 homes under the previous affordable homes programme. Given spiralling housing costs there is an urgent need for additional investment in affordable housing in London and across the country – now more than ever.”

UPDATE II: Whitehall sources say they have seen no evidence from the GLA that any specific project didn’t start because of the funding position. Suggestion is any sign-off delay should not have made building “impossible”…