Sadiq Khan has turned London into a “highest building competition”

The former Labour leader slammed the Mayor of London for backing high density developments with small rooms reports Kumail Jaffer, Local Democracy

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn with a quizzical look — Jeremy Corbyn has slammed Sadiq Khan on housing – (Jeremy Corbyn, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)

The Mayor of London has turned development in the capital into a competition of who can develop the tallest building, Jeremy Corbyn has claimed.

The former Labour leader, who has been the MP for Islington North since 1983, said City Hall’s efforts to solve London’s housing shortage have led to developments that are “too high density, [where the] room sizes are too small, and our children don’t grow up with enough open space around them.”

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Corbyn also suggested that Sir Sadiq Khan could be “much sterner” on pushing developers to increase social housing in new buildings.

Failing that, the GLA should look to take a more active and interventionist role to ensure good quality, affordable housing is being built in the right areas of the capital, he said.

Sadiq Khan has changed the ‘character of London’ – for the worse

“Where I’m much less happy with him is on the development side of things and the bulk and size of the new buildings that he approves,” Corbyn told the LDRS in an exclusive interview.

“Call me King Charles if you want, but I am concerned about the way in which the character of London is changing where you have the increasing competition for the highest building and the biggest blob on the landscape.

“Of course, architecture’s got to move with the technology and the times, but I do think too often there’s too high density, room sizes are too small, and our children don’t grow up with enough open space around them.

“Open space is absolutely critical to a child’s upbringing. The idea that most children in London have access to a garden is nonsense – they don’t.

“Most children live in flats, many of those flats don’t even have balconies, and so open space is something very important, and I wish Sadiq was a bit stronger on on that sort of thing.

“I would [also] push him to be much sterner on housing developments and the volume of housing development that could be sponsored by him through the GLA as the mayor, and the land that he could put at the disposal of local authorities for council house development.”

He cited two developments in his constituency as recent examples of City Hall failing to step in.

The first, Corbyn said, was the former Holloway Prison site, which was sold off by the Ministry of Justice after it was closed for its original use. The Your Party leader said he was unsuccessful in lobbying for its transfer to either Islington Council or the GLA.

The site was eventually sold to housing association giant Peabody in 2019 for £82 million, over half of which was a loan from the GLA.

“It will end up being about 40 per cent or so social housing – that is higher than almost any other site, so in some ways you can say it’s good, but why is it not 100 per cent?” Mr Corbyn asked.

“It means that about 300 flats will end up being sold into the private sector, maybe more.”

Another former hospital site near Archway was also purchased by Peabody in 2014, who then sold it to a private capital company in 2021. Corbyn joined activists in opposing their development plans for the land on the grounds that there was not enough affordable housing. The Archway Campus scheme has now been called in the mayor’s office, who are yet to make a decision.

“The mayor allowing far too much private development to go on, when he needs to be [encouraging] the development of social housing in London,” Corbyn claimed.

Housing Associations are ‘increasingly selling properties off’

During the interview at Corbyn’s Peace and Justice Project office in Finsbury Park, the former Labour leader said London’s housing shortage is also being exacerbated by a lack of remedial action being taken by housing associations.

“They are increasingly selling properties off rather than refurbishing them,” he said.

“Where they’ve got a flat in an old Victorian house that requires some refurbishment, rather than spend the money on that, they sell it on the open market and spend the money somewhere else.

“Many of those properties were bought by public money. This is wholesale privatisation of housing by housing associations that ought to exist for housing people in social need, not just to run as housing companies. So that is a huge issue.”

This has led to a dearth of affordable housing being maintained or built, he claimed, instead allowing developers to turn properties into rentals or luxury apartments.

Carry on like this, and the prospect of a “childless city” – where parents are forced to move out of the capital to be able to afford to raise their child – could become a reality, he added. Earlier this year, London Councils revealed that 90 schools have either closed or merged in the last five years, primarily in inner city boroughs.

“If we don’t address this, then the depopulation of Central London gets worse,” Corbyn warned.

“We’ve lost, in the in very recent past, three schools in my constituency.

“You have to understand a primary school is more than just a school. It’s a hub for the community. It’s where the parents meet. And any parent watching this will fully understand that that sort of social joy of getting to know the other parents, get to know the other children, is part of the community. And if you close a school, you take something out the community.

“But the other reason behind it is of course the smaller number of children needing school places, and that’s for a whole variety of reasons. It’s like the perfect storm in my own constituency. Many European nationals left after Brexit, we also have a very low birth rate, and indeed the London population as a whole is now declining for the first time for 50 years.”

Credit where it’s due?

Corbyn and Sir Sadiq had a mixed relationship when the pair were both in the Commons.

The mayor, then the MP for Tooting, nominated the North London MP for the 2015 Labour leadership race, giving him the numbers he needed to enter – and then win – the contest.

Less than a year later, however, he called for the former Labour leader to step down, and supported challenger Owen Smith in the ensuing contest.

But the ex-Labour leader does share some praise for the current mayor – even if he hinted he might run a candidate against him in 2028.

“Where he’s done well has been on air quality and being utterly determined to drive down exhaust emission levels by the effective ban on diesel vehicles, the ULEZ, and so on, which I support,” Corbyn said.

“That’s absolutely the right direction to go in, and it has noticeably improved air quality in London. That’s aided also by more hybrid vehicles, and it’s also aided by more electric vehicles. That’s good. And I think he’s done well on investment in both underground and overground trains.”

Holding the Labour government to account

Of course, Sir Sadiq isn’t solely responsible for London’s woes. The mayor doesn’t have the devolved powers to dramatically shift the housing market, though he can pull levers to help make incremental changes.

The main responsibility for what gets built in London still lies with ministers, who are currently chasing an ambitious target to build 1.5million homes across the country between 2024 and the next general election. New Prime Minister Andy Burnham has prioritised building more council housing as one of the key messages of his premiership.

Corbyn called on ministers to tighten regulation of the private rented sector and move faster on ending leasehold to “end this rip off culture of ground rent and service charges”.

Those lucky enough to buy freehold properties are reducing in number, he claimed, resulting in a “depopulation of inner city areas, a complete reversal of what happened 30 years ago when richer people were leaving these areas and they were becoming cheaper.”

“In most of central London, buying a property is absolutely impossible,” he added, claiming Margaret Thatcher’s Right to Buy policy – which allows council housing tenants to purchase their properties at a discount – has been “an absolute disaster for housing strategy”.

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