Khan reported to watchdog for ‘misleading public’ over affordable housing figures
SADIQ KHAN has been reported to the statistics watchdog for allegedly “misleading” the public over how many houses he has built in London, The Telegraph can reveal.
The Tory group in the London Assembly accused the mayor of being “highly disingenuous” for claiming to have “delivered” 25,000 affordable homes “in the last year alone” when many of the houses had been started but not completed.
At the start of this month, Mr Khan was re-elected to City Hall for an unprecedented third term after beating Susan Hall, his Tory rival. In March, during the mayoral election campaign, the Labour politician wrote an article citing his housing record, claiming there had been “a record-breaking 25,000 genuinely affordable homes delivered in the last year alone”.
However, statistics published last week showed that the number of affordable homes started in the capital in the year to March 31 had plunged to 3,244 – the lowest number since at least 2008-9, when records began.
While the figure exceeded 25,000 in 2022-23, critics pointed out that this related to housing starts rather than homes delivered, with many projects years away from completion. In other cases, existing homes have been demolished to make way for new ones, with the Mayor of London accused of failing to offset the figures in his claims.
Now, the Tory group in City Hall has written to Sir Ian Diamond, the chief executive of the UK Statistics Authority, asking him to adjudicate on whether Mr Khan had misused the statistics.
Written by Lord Bailey, the Tories’ housing spokesman, the letter says: “I am writing in regards to the Mayor of London’s use of housing statistics. The Mayor has routinely claimed that he has ‘delivered’ 25,000 affordable homes in the last year alone’. Adverts across Transport for London’s estate, authorised by the Mayor of London, proudly suggests the capital is in a ‘golden era’ of homebuilding.” The letter points out that the 3,244 starts in 2023-24 represent an “88 per cent drop compared to 2022-23, when 27,824 affordable homes were started – not completed”.
The letter adds: “We would, therefore, question whether the Mayor’s claim that 25,000 homes have been ‘delivered’ in the ‘last year alone’ is materially misleading ... Even if referring to figures from 2022-23, an individual cannot live in a ‘start’ and a home has not been ‘delivered’ if it is still being built ... A ‘start’ may be counted before a single brick has been laid.
“We believe this combined with such a sharp drop in the number of new affordable homes in London actually completed, makes the Mayor’s claim that we are in a ‘golden era’ of housebuilding highly disingenuous.
“We believe the Mayor’s presentation of the figures in this way is unhelpful at best, and fundamentally misleading to the public at worst.”
A spokesman for Mr Khan said: “Unlike ministers, who missed their national affordable home building target, Mr Khan has hit every affordable homes programme target he has been set, and is confident he will continue to do so.”