The Mayor of London has called on the capital’s employers to step up and sign pledges put forward by the ‘Fifty Thousand Homes’ campaign to help workers cope with soaring housing costs. Here at www.westlondon.com we’re delighted to sign up.
The pledges range from paying the London Living Wage for all staff and offering direct financial support, such as the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, to developing flexible working and providing guidance and advice to employees experiencing housing difficulty.
Tenancy deposit loans help support employees with the cost of securing a rented property in London with businesses offering staff interest-free loans to cover the cost of a deposit, similar to what many firms currently do with season ticket loans.
The Mayor has pledged to tackle the housing crisis head on and has set out new planning rules to help speed up the building of more affordable housing and has secured a record-breaking £3.15bn deal from government for 90,000 new affordable homes in the capital.
He has also begun identifying public land that can be used to deliver new housing, fast-tracking 75 sites across 300 acres of TfL land that could deliver up to 10,000 new homes for Londoners.
Many experts say that 50,000 new homes are needed in London each year and the average cost of a home in London is more than 14 times average earnings, which means there has to be a dramatic and sustainable increase in the number of homes being built to protect and enhance the capital’s competitiveness as a global city. But in the meantime, employers can help to keep talent in the capital by signing up to the pledges.
To lead the way, the Mayor signed up the whole GLA family to the Fifty Thousand Homes pledges – with City Hall, Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police, the London Fire Brigade, the London Legacy Development Corporation and the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation all now having introduced or committed to offering tenancy deposit loans, as well as meeting the other Fifty Thousand Homes pledges.
We are among the first businesses to sign up to the pledges, alongside – Optimity, Arup, Mace Group Grant Thornton UK LLP, UK Power Networks and Golin communications.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said:
“We know that building new homes to tackle the housing crisis won’t happen overnight – it’s a marathon, not a sprint – but in the meanwhile we need to do whatever we can to help Londoners struggling to meet the soaring cost of housing. That’s why I am pleased to announce City Hall and the entire GLA family is now committed to offering tenancy deposit loans to staff, and I would urge all London businesses to sign the Employers’ Pledge on housing too. We must do all we can to retain and attract the best talent in our capital and to make sure we remain a city for all Londoners.”
Naomi Smith, Director of the Fifty Thousand Homes campaign, said:
“London’s high cost of housing is a huge challenge for businesses, risking our ability to attract and retain the people we need to keep our city working and thriving. Employers want to help their workers struggling with rent or trying to get onto the housing ladder. But we have to start unlocking more land in London, otherwise we’ll carry on slipping backwards.”
To sign up to the Fifty Thousand Homes’ Employers’ Pledges, just visit fiftythousandhomes.london/pledge.
