London Boroughs With Zero Affordable Home Starts in the First Half of 2025/26

London’s affordable housing crisis is deepening.

New figures from the Greater London Authority (GLA) show that five boroughs did not start a single affordable home between April and September 2025, despite soaring demand and more than 330,000 households on waiting lists.

The Mayor’s Office insists the figures are “encouraging”, pointing to a 113% rise in starts compared with last year — though from a very low baseline.

📍 Boroughs With Zero Affordable Housing Starts

(GLA Housing & Land)

City of London Hackney Lambeth Merton Richmond upon Thames

(The City of London Corporation) says comparisons are unfair given its small residential population.

Eleven Boroughs Started Fewer Than 10 Homes

Data from the GLA Affordable Housing Statistics (link) shows these boroughs delivered fewer than 10 starts:

Barking & Dagenham, Bexley, Croydon, Enfield, Haringey, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, Kingston, Wandsworth, Westminster.

⭐ What Should Have Been Built vs What Was Built

Mayor’s Annual Target:

GLA’s Affordable Homes Programme (link) aims for:

➡️ 17,800–19,000 affordable homes per year

Expected Over 6 Months:

➡️ 8,900–9,500 homes

Actual Delivery:

➡️ 1,239 homes (GLA data)

Shortfall:

➡️ 7,700–8,300 homes missing

Only 13–14% of expected starts delivered.

If delivery were even, each borough should have started 270–290 homes — instead, many delivered almost none.

One of the Lowest Totals Since 2016

Starts this year:

347 (April–June) 892 (July–September)

Total: 1,239

(See GLA data: link)

The Centre for Policy Studies (link) notes that some completions are simply market purchases, not new construction.

Emergency Powers: Affordable Requirement Cut to 20%

To boost viability, the Government has allowed the Mayor to temporarily reduce affordable housing requirements from:

➡️ 35% → 20% until March 2028

(DLUHC)

Housing Secretary Steve Reed has urged the Mayor to “build, baby, build”.

Political Reactions

The Mayor’s Office (link) says London is still delivering record council homes. Lib Dem Assembly leader Hina Bokhari claims affordable building has “dropped off a cliff”. (London Lib Dems) Brent Council disputes GLA figures, claiming 48 starts, not 2. (Brent Housing)

📌 Housing Need vs Reality

Government estimates:

➡️ London needs 88,000 homes per year

(Parliament Briefing)

Mayor’s affordable target:

➡️ 17,800–19,000 per year

Actual so far:

➡️ 1,239

The pipeline is shrinking just as demand is rising.

Summary

5 boroughs: zero affordable homes started London should have started 8,900–9,500 homes — delivered 1,239 11 boroughs delivered fewer than 10 Affordable requirement cut to 20% to try and unlock development 330,000+ households still waiting for homes

London’s housing delivery is far off track — and unless construction rates accelerate, the crisis will worsen.