Andrew Lewin
Main Page: Andrew Lewin (Labour - Welwyn Hatfield)(1 day, 20 hours ago)
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Florence Eshalomi
I thank the hon. Member for his question. I know that there are constituencies on the outskirts of London that are feeling the impact of a lack of affordable housing, and there are issues with temporary accommodation. A number of London boroughs simply do not have enough homes to house people, so they look to neighbouring boroughs. The Government are working with the Mayor of London to investigate the issue. They are challenging the mayor on his commitments in the London plan, and we continue to work with him to look at that as well. The Government hope to commit to ensuring that our Committee has monthly updates on the new affordable housing targets that they have agreed with the mayor. That will be open for public scrutiny once the Committee has looked at that.
Andrew Lewin (Welwyn Hatfield) (Lab)
It is an honour to serve on the Select Committee with my hon. Friend. As she knows, I am biased when it comes to the importance of new towns. I represent two fantastic new towns: Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City. What she said this afternoon about the new towns of the future and how we get the balance right was really important. Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City are communities that have stood the test of time because land value was captured and a good amount of social housing was built right at the start of those developments. It is imperative that we do the same this time around for the new generation of new towns that the Government seek to build. Does my hon. Friend agree that when we get spades in the ground in our new towns, it is crucial not only that we invest in infrastructure, but that the homes for social rent that we so desperately need are built in the first phase of development and are a core part of those communities from day one?
Florence Eshalomi
It is really good to have my hon. Friend’s knowledge and expertise on the Committee; he is always citing reasons why new towns are successful and something that this Government should support wholeheartedly. The key thing that we want to ensure is that funding is attached to deliver on those recommendations, including by ensuring a mixture of homes in new towns. The new towns taskforce has recommended a 40% target for affordable homes, including a minimum target of 20% for social rent. We hope the Government will look favourably on that recommendation, and we can see how building those homes will help to make a dent in the housing crisis that exists across all constituencies in the UK.