Boris plans London property makeover

30/03/2009

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has said he wants to invest millions to renovate London's empty homes.

By more than tripling the previous budget, the mayor could help provide work for craftsmen and women who would otherwise be looking for construction jobs.

The UK government has committed itself to building three million new homes by 2020. With this looking extremely unlikely, renovating existing buildings will help improve living conditions and bring back empty properties to the market.

"Working with London's boroughs, this investment will help to significantly improve London's housing stock," said the mayor.

Leaving homes empty when so many people are without accommodation is "unacceptable", Mr Johnson commented. He also said that he aimed to reduce the proportion of long-term empty homes in the capital, to just one per cent.

The House Builders Federation has said urgent action was needed to get home builders building. Stewart Baseley, executive chairman, said: "Housing supply is being strangled by the lack of mortgage availability at the very time we should be increasing output."

< Back to News Listing