Westminster City Council has been labelled "foolish" for not bidding for cash to build more affordable council housing - but its leadership says the money comes with too many strings attached.
The council declined to bid for a share of the £1 billion Government cash the Mayor has allocated for 11,000 new council homes to be built over four years, which 26 other London local authorities have snapped up.
It says accepting the money would only delay its projects already underway, adding it is already on track to exceed its target of producing 1,850 new affordable homes by 2023.
But Labour opposition leader Councillor Adam Hug accused the Conservative leadership of a "pattern of shunning" London Mayor Sadiq Khan's projects.
Cllr Hug pointed to leader Cllr Nickie Aiken's recent reported comments to the Tory Conference that she was probably Mr Khan's "least liked council leader" after backing out of his Oxford Street pedestrianisation project.
"There's this sort of sense that 'Westminster can do it all itself'," he said.
In the meantime Westminster residents waiting on social housing lists are being moved to temporary accommodation in Enfield, Cllr Hug added.
The council has locked horns repeatedly with the Mayor since taking the pedestrianisation project off the table in June, recently unveiling its own vision. It also went to court to successfully halt the Swiss Cottage leg of London's cycle superhighway network.
Cllr Aiken has said the council was siding with the majority of local residents and businesses who opposed the projects.
Westminster has also clashed with Mr Khan's new policy for City Hall money to go towards social housing estate regenerations only if existing residents approve the scheme in a ballot.
The council faced criticism from residents over its Church Street and Ebury Bridge Estate renewal proposals. It says the Ebury plans will increase the number of council homes in the borough.
However Labour attempted to call them in, arguing the council-run survey canvassing only the estate’s secure tenants and resident leaseholders was not sufficient consultation.
“Earlier this year, the Mayor of London told the media he was withdrawing £23.5m of agreed funding for Church Street, so we don’t take any new offers of money towards schemes for granted,” the council's spokesman said of its latest decision.
“Mayoral funding is always welcome, but not when it comes with restrictions that could negatively impact our residents. Were we to apply for this money, it could cause massive delays to our renewal schemes, keeping people stuck on housing waiting lists."
The billion-pound promise is expected to bring 4,000 new homes into West London boroughs over the next four years, including in Kensington & Chelsea, which is getting nearly £3.4m for 336 homes.
Mr Khan has also promised 3,570 London Living Rent homes for middle-income Londoners trying to save a deposit to get on the property ladder.
It comes as leaders seek to address the capital's affordable housing crunch. According to Government figures, boroughs lost more than 300,000 council homes to Right To Buy (RTB) sales since tenants were allowed to purchase their rentals in the 1980s.
Presently, any RTB funds unspent within three years have to be returned to central Government coffers before City Hall can reallocate them for affordable housing, with only 30% of those sale proceeds allowed to be used for recycling homes.
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Cllr Aiken has welcomed the Government's recent announcement it would scrap the Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap, which will give councils more flexibility to build more homes, and blend the funds with RTB receipts.
Mr Khan's building programme additionally allows councils involved to ring-fence their RTB receipts for reinvestment in new homes.
Cllr Hug said Westminster should be bidding for any extra Mayoral cash, including the £750k per borough to boost their planning and housing teams.
"Obviously Westminster has a lot of its own resources compared to many other London councils, but it still seems foolish to turn down any money to assist with that."
