Mayor of London Sadiq Khan confirmed over 8,000 homes have been started through his Land Fund, five years ahead of the original 2030 target.
The Land Fund, set up in 2017, was designed to speed up housebuilding in the capital by providing finance and buying land for developers.
The fund is worth more than £736m, including £486m from the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
It has been used for projects such as nearly 1,000 homes at the former Holloway Prison site in Islington, up to 1,000 homes on hospital sites in Enfield and Haringey, and build-to-rent homes at Mitre Yard in Old Oak and Park Royal.
Last year, 11,600 homes were completed across London, with nearly 6,700 classed as affordable at social rent levels.
Khan said: “The innovative Land Fund has enabled us to tackle the housing crisis head on, starting more than 8,000 new homes five years ahead of schedule.
“I am proud that nearly 6,700 affordable homes at social rent levels were completed last year, which is the highest in a decade.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said: “We’re facing a housing crisis which has stopped our young people from achieving the dream of homeownership, especially in London where there is a real demand to build the affordable homes we need.
“That’s why we welcome the Mayor of London pushing ahead to build these homes, and we will continue to work hand-in-hand with him to deliver on our stretching target of 1.5 million homes through our Plan for Change.”
Marcus Bate, partnerships, planning, communities and sustainability director at Mount Anvil, said: “Mount Anvil were delighted to be one of the first of the very few private sector developers to be awarded Investment Partner status by the Greater London Authority in 2020 – backing our capability to deliver homes for Londoners in partnership with housing associations and local authorities, and boosting our capacity to take on the estate transformation work that we see as so key to solving the capital’s housing crisis.
“The GLA’s support has enabled us to increase our housing delivery in central London and to accelerate our purchase of new sites.
“We’ve already delivered 125 per cent of the homes that we committed to at the start of our partnership.”
Bate added: “This year we’ll complete 1,100 homes and start more than 3,000 homes.
“This shows the power of partnership and creativity in finding dynamic ways to continue to deliver at pace when many are stalling.”
