Calls have been made for the government to crack down on new-build homes from west London being advertised overseas before they are built.
Sadiq Khan says a single property agent is advertising 1,070 yet-to-be-completed homes from the area, and almost 7,000 across the capital, in Asia and Middle East.
The Labour London Mayoral candidate is now calling for a limit on the sale of new-build London homes to overseas investors. He says Londoners should be offered the homes first.
According to Mr Khan, the thousand-plus list in west London comprises of 709 properties on Chelsea Waterfront, 186 in Lillie Square East in Fulham, and 122 in Chiswick Gate.
He is calling on ministers to change the law to insist on a proportion of new homes being marketed exclusively to first-time buyers in London before being offered to buyers elsewhere.
And in an effort to limit the number of homes being sold off-plan many years in advance of their completion – a practice that Mr Khan says tends to benefit cash-buyers over those with a mortgage – he is calling for local authorities to limit the number of properties sold more than six months before completion.
“Ambitious young Londoners are rightly fed up with seeing thousands of new homes each year sold off to overseas investors – many of whom will never live in them – years before they are actually built,” he said. “They’re sick of not being given a chance in our broken housing market.
“That’s why I have set out a straightforward plan to offer Londoners ‘first dibs’ on new homes. Building new homes for Londoners must come ahead of offering investment opportunities for overseas millionaires.”
Mr Khan's pleas comes after it was revealed that the average deposit for a London home has increased to a whopping £179,248.
