Building homes for social rent
There is widespread consensus both within the 4in10 Network and beyond, that the lasting solution to London’s housing crisis lies in the building of more social housing so that every child’s right to a safe and secure home can be met. Moreover, these homes must be for ‘social rent’ linked to local incomes rather than ‘affordable’ rent which can be up to 80% of market rents and hence anything but affordable.
National housing charity and 4in10 member, Shelter has calculated that 90,000 homes for social rent need to be built across the country annually for each of the next 10 years (Shelter, 2024). In July 2025 the Government made a significant step towards this, committing £39bn through the Social and Affordable Homes Programme to build 300,000 homes nationwide in the next 10 years with at least 180,000 for social rent. In recognition of London’s place at the very centre of the housing crisis, the city will receive up to 30% of this new investment, £11.7bn over ten years.
However, even with this investment on the table there are significant challenges to getting these homes built. Only, 2,158 private homes began construction during the first half of 2025, just 4.9% of the Government’s half-year target (Molior, 2025). Emergency measures were agreed by the Government and Mayor in late 2025 to stimulate building, including a temporary reduction in affordable housing requirements from 35% to 20% and Community Infrastructure Levy relief. While these measures may be deemed necessary in the short-term they cannot be seen as a longer-term solution to delivering the homes London’s low-income families so desperately need.
Decision-makers must also pay careful attention to what is being built, not just counting the total number of ‘units. In London in 2023/24, over half of newly built homes were two beds, and almost all the rest were one beds. Only one in ten homes had three beds and a tiny fraction — just 2% — had four or more (The Londoner, 2024) This is part of the reason why there are so many children living in temporary accommodation for such long periods of time.
Calls to action
The Government must set targets for building social rent homes within the Social and Affordable Homes Programme.
Local authorities must develop new business models for building social rent and affordable housing which require greater accountability from house builders and make it harder for them to revise or buy their way out of quotas for social rent homes.
The GLA and local authorities should increase their support to develop Community Land Trusts and Housing Co-operatives, including through funding.
The GLA and London Councils’ Housing Mission and the London Plan must ensure that house building in London meets the needs of children and families. This means enough family sized (3+ bedrooms) homes that are affordable and for social rent and infrastructure that supports them, e.g. access to spaces to play, schools, family hubs etc.
