Steve Norris: Addressing London's housing challenge

Steve Norris is a former Conservative MP and twice stood against Ken Livingstone as the party's candidate for London Mayor.

The scale of London’s housing crisis is frightening. 

It is far more of an issue in the capital than anywhere else in Britain.  And that’s because although the rest of the world thinks London is rich it’s actually a city of stark contrast. 

In the west, per capita GDP is 400% of the national average.  It is home to some of the most expensive real estate in the world.  But east London sees per capita GDP at just 75% of the national average – and that in a city where the cost of living generally is higher than anywhere else in the country. 

So we have a problem and it is good that whoever is Mayor on the 4^th of May will now have more power to do something about the problem.  Bringing together government grant, the former Homes and Communities Agency London division and the now defunct London Development Agency’s land holdings in the new Mayoral Development Corporation is a real opportunity for change.