London Councils has appointed a contractor to help structure a ‘collaborative delivery vehicle’ aimed at helping its 32 local authority members increase their homebuilding capacity.
Consultancy firm Halliford Associates will work with London Councils, which represents all 32 boroughs and the City of London, on developing the vehicle.
The vehicle aims to help boroughs work together to pool skills and resources to build more homes and maximise housing delivery. This means scoping out options to drive development, which could include investment and direct delivery. A spoksperson said the specifics will be clarified over the life of the project.
Sir Steve Bullock, London Councils’ executive member for housing, said local government is facing a significant challenge in meeting the demand for housing from Londoners.
‘Demand for homes increases by around 50,000 each year, yet delivery of new homes has been an average of 22,000 for a number of years. Homelessness is also rising rapidly, and London’s homelessness figures account for 32% of the England total.
‘It is vital we help develop new mechanisms to support councils in improving their home building capacity to meet the increasing challenges which lay ahead.’
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