THROUGHOUT the Mayoral election Boris Johnson pledged to tackle the blight of empty homes in the capital.
He believes that leaving homes empty when so many people are seeking housing is not only unacceptable, but too often they blight neighbourhoods, attracting vandalism and creating local eyesores.
Recently the Mayor announced an unprecedented £22m of funding to tackle this problem with west London boroughs - Hillingdon, Ealing, Hounslow, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, Brent and Harrow - set to receive £3,936,637 to bring empty homes in their areas back into use.
Across London this vital investment will see more than 1,300 abandoned, derelict and blighted buildings brought back to residential use putting the Mayor on course to meet his manifesto pledge to invest a total of £60million of new funding to bring more than 3,400 empty homes back into use by 2011.
This funding will bring improvements to social rented and private sector homes, improve the quality of homes and lives on some of the capital's most deprived housing estates, and raise the environmental efficiency of social and private housing.
Funding a range of practical measures to encourage owners to repair and bring their homes back into use costs a fraction of the price of building a new home,delivering real value for money for London taxpayers,as well as providing a further boost to the construction industry during these difficult economic times.
RICHARD BLAKEWAY
Mayor of London's Director of Housing Greater London Authority
City Hall The Queen's Walk
London SE1 2AA
