Southwark council home building drops by 96 per cent

The number of council homes started by one local authority has dropped by 96 per cent in the past year, new data has revealed.

Data shared by Labour-run Southwark council with the local Liberal Democrat party shows that the number of council homes started in 2023/2024 was just 28, compared with the 684 starts recorded in 2022/23.

Figures also revealed that only 45 per cent of the council homes started since 2017/2018 had been completed by last year. 

The revelation comes as 17,000 households are on the housing waiting list in the borough.

The figures come one year after Government data showed Southwark was building one in three of the country’s new council homes. Across England, construction began on 2,234 new council houses in 2022, with 726  being started in the South London borough. 

But in 2023, the council announced it would pause some of its new building schemes in an effort to curb a £13.8million deficit. 

The local authority also scrapped a development of 25 new council homes in Borough last year, stating that it would not have met fire safety requirements.

A spokeswoman from the council said: “Due to unforeseen economic circumstances, from late 2022, leading to high levels of inflation and borrowing, and associated increased costs in supply chains, we had to pause a number of planned developments. 

“Some work also had to be paused to ensure it complied with new safety regulations. It was a very difficult decision, but not to have done so would have been economically irresponsible on behalf of rent and council tax-payers.”

According to the local authority, Southwark Labour has completed 661 new council homes since May 2022 with a further 1,571 under active construction.

A council spokeswoman said the authority “remains committed” to delivering its target – set in 2013 – of 11,000 council homes in Southwark by 2043. 

Deputy leader of the Southwark Liberal Democrats, Cllr Rachel Bentley, described the latest figures as a symptom of Labour’s “mismanagement of local house building”. 

She said: “The housing crisis has left our community at breaking point, and in desperate need of more social homes.”

But, leader of Southwark council, Cllr Kieron Williams, said the delays reflected a broader issue of rising building expenses brought on by “economic collapse” across the country.

The latest Greater London Authority figures, published on 14 May, showed that building started on grant-funded affordable homes in the capital was down by 90 per cent from the previous year.

Between April 2023 and March 2024, building had started on just 2,358 affordable homes in London, compared with 25,658 in the previous year.

Completions also dropped, from 13,954 in 2022 to 2023, to 10,949 in 2023 to 2024.

Pictured top: Southwark Council hq on Tooley Street (Picture: Google Street View)