THE Mayor of London has set a target for Ealing to build more than 1,000 affordable homes by the end of next year.
Within London's first housing strategy for 2008-11, Boris Johnson has outlined plans for Ealing Council to build a total of 1,065 affordable homes and across the Capital, he expects 40,917 homes to be built.
The Mayor, said: "The last two years have been exceptionally challenging for London’s housing market. Sales have slumped, prices have fallen and confidence has plummeted.
"For developers and home-buyers alike, access to finance has been incredibly limited, squeezing both supply and demand. Over the coming months and years, I will build on these strong foundations so that we continue to generate the levels of affordable housing that London so badly needs, and so richly deserves.
"In particular, I will seek to give boroughs more influence over housing delivery at a local level."
Ealing Council has already delivered 537 affordable homes in 2008-09 and a spokesman said: "Ealing Council is well on its way to meeting the Mayor of London’s three year target figure of 1,065 affordable homes. For 2009-10, we will have provided a further 340 across the borough. Of these 340 homes, 34 were empty properties, which the council brought back into use.
"While we are confident that Boris Johnson’s target will be met in the next financial year, we cannot dismiss the severe lack of affordable housing in Ealing, which is why the council is building new council homes for the first time in decades."
In Ealing, there are 1,282 homes which have been vacant for more than 12 months and in January, the council announced a novel scheme to get on the property ladder by helping to restore the unsightly homes.
