Andrew Dismore

PRESS RELEASE: IMMEDIATE: 5/7/12

Andrew Dismore, Labour London Assembly member for Camden and Barnet questioned London Mayor Johnson at Mayor’s Question Time as to his definition of an “affordable home” in light of Mayor Johnson’s endorsement of a housing association website advertising a shared ownership property as requiring an income of £104,250 as necessary to meet the mortgage and rent on the property. (NHHA “First Steps”)

Mr Dismore questioned the Mayor as to whether he was aware of this, when Mayor Johnson  wrote:  “This website is London’s gateway to affordable home ownership”, when the mean annual income in London is £33,850 less than a third of that.

Mr Dismore said:

“The Mayor moves in very different circles to most Londoners in housing need.

He talks of the squeezed middle, but the squeezed middle income Londoners are by definition those on or about the mean income level, and  not the people on the Mayor’s threshold income for support of £77,200- the mean income is  less than half that. Even when NHHT’s attention was drawn to their website figure, they could only reduce t to £75,000 for a 25% stake in the property.

The Mayor has also made clear he will  no longer fund social housing in London, even though the last strategic housing market assessment showed a need for over 14,000 social rented homes each year.

For the majority of Londoners looking for a decent roof over their head, the only realistic option is to rent at an affordable level, including through social housing, and the Mayor’s housing strategy does nothing to address this need.

Combined with cuts to housing benefit, it is clear the Conservatives care notihng fo the plight of the real average Londoner. They are subsidising the few at the expense of the many.”