Tory Assembly member accuses Sadiq Khan of ‘tricking Londoners’ over housing targets

A Conservative Assembly member has said Sadiq Khan's housing credibility is in "tatters" after he accused the mayor of double counting figures from previous years.

Andrew Boff, a former mayoral candidate and Tories' housing spokesperson in the London Assembly, said Khan had failed to reach his housing target of 12,500 homes for the previous financial year because he had "doubled counted" more than 1,000 homes which were actually restarts from the previous mayor, Boris Johnson.

According to Boff, 10 per cent of the 12,526 homes were restarts from previous years, meaning the mayor failed to reach his own minimum target for 2017/18.

The mayor was accused of "cooking the books" last year when Boff said he had double counted 500 homes. Now he says the number is actually 1,256.​

Boff, who accused Khan of "fiddling" figures, said Khan's credibility on housing was "in tatters".

“In a shameless attempt to trick Londoners into believing that he has met his own targets, Sadiq Khan has been found guilty once again of cooking the books," he said. "The fact that the mayor double counted over 10 per cent of his affordable housing starts will come as a slap in the face to all those Londoners who dream of owning their own home."

During the exchange, Khan said the number of home starts under the previous mayor were "incorrect".

"The 12, 500 plus starts in that year are starts according to the government criteria set by them. That does include taking the dodgy figures form the previous mayor…which were wrong and not satisfying the criteria and making sure we got those right."

Khan added: "The target was to break a record of 12,500 which has been done.

"The target is to start 116,000 homes by 2022, we're on course for doing that. The target his year is to break that record again by starting 14,000 homes and I'm hopeful and confident that by the end of April when we have the figures out that I'll have met that target as well."

James Murray, Khan's deputy mayor for housing, said: “This is the latest desperate attempt to distract attention away from the record-breaking number of affordable homes started under Sadiq. As Assembly members know, there is no double-counting in these figures. They use the exact same definition of a start that was used under Boris Johnson, and that is recognised by the government.

“Last year, Sadiq started the highest number of genuinely affordable homes since City Hall was given responsibility for housing in London – including more at social rent levels than the previous four years combined. He is firmly on track to achieve the even higher target this year – building far more of the homes that Londoners need.”