London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 08, 2025

London eyes public housing overhaul to deal with 'crisis'

London eyes public housing overhaul to deal with 'crisis'

A massive shakeup could be coming to the boards of city-owned agencies responsible for affordable and public housing in London, as city staff recommend drastic action in light of a scathing auditor’s report.

A city hall report made public Wednesday recommends a complete overhaul of the boards overseeing both the London Housing Corp. (HDC) and London and Middlesex Community Housing (LMCH), suggesting politicians or city staff be appointed to govern the organizations instead.

“There is absolutely consensus around the table that we are in an immediate crisis and we need to take immediate action,” said Coun. Maureen Cassidy, who chairs the community and protective services committee.

The recommendation from staff to have a city hall bureaucrat replace both boards will be debated at a special committee meeting of all members of council on Monday.

Other options include appointing all 15 members of council, or a portion of council, to act as the HDC and LMCH boards.

“We’re saying, as an interim measure, to have the city take over the leadership,” city hall’s director of housing Sandra Datars Bere said.

“The organizations aren’t going anywhere, they’re staying in place. They have work to do.”

Taking over those boards — which are now made up of community leaders and other volunteers — will “keep some stability” while moving ahead with the necessary changes to improve public housing and generate more affordable units, she said.

The hope is that having city hall or council oversee and direct operations at the public housing provider — the region’s largest landlord — and the affordable housing developer will mean better co-ordination of housing and homelessness efforts in London, Datars Bere said.

“People are always telling us they don’t understand what’s going on, who does what. Despite all these organizations and all this work, we have a huge housing problem.”

A recent review by KMPG criticized the way rent-geared-to-income units and other affordable housing are managed and built in London, suggesting the HDC, an arms-length agency created three years ago to develop affordable units, should be dissolved.

The report also highlighted a severe problem filling vacant public units through LMCH, which has about 128 rent-geared-to-income units sitting empty across the region. It’s taking hundreds of days, in the most severe cases, to repair rent-geared-to-income units before the next tenants can move in, despite a burgeoning waiting list nearing 5,000 families. KPMG’s audit said the board is not the right fit to oversee the organization’s work.

The head of LMCH, Josh Browne, said the organization has sent a report in response and will speak at Monday’s meeting, but won’t be answering media questions before that.

“The role of the board is generally to oversee and guide those operations, and create the policies that guide those operations. It sounds to me, from the KPMG report, that everything seems to have fallen apart, and we have to get everything back on track,” Cassidy said.

There’s been little talk about the future of HDC, but Cassidy said the vacancy problem is the most urgent issue to be resolved.

“We can’t sit and wait and talk and study that for another second. We have to get those units repaired, fixed if they need it, and then filled,” she said.

“We’ve been talking for longer than I can remember about the waiting list, the number of families and people that are waiting for social housing in London. To me, it’s unconscionable.”

The staff report also outlines an immediate action plan, including:

   * Accelerate repairs so empty rent-geared-to-income units can be filled within 30 days.
   * Use 90 per cent of the affordable housing funds available from city hall and senior governments by 2021.
   * Improve LMCH tenant satisfaction by 10 per cent, based on annual surveys.
   * Expand use of rent supplements that top up struggling Londoners by about $300.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
×