London mayoral candidate Alex Challoner has urged Londoners to help him identify suitable land that can be used to solve the city’s housing crisis.
He wants to see a comprehensive review of the green belt as part of his bold plan to build five new market communities in consultation with local councils across London – each with at least 10,000 homes.
Alex is keen to work with local councils and local communities to identify parcels of land across the city that are not being put to good use for local communities.
Examples include derelict green sites and even land currently home to a car wash, that has been classed as ‘green belt’.
Alex said there will also be other sections of land that are not currently green belt and that should be better protected.
The self-made businessman – a Board member of the Tory Reform Group (TRG) – wants to help more young people, families and key workers get on the housing ladder.
Alex, 53, has now stepped up his campaign to deliver more housing that is affordable by launching his ‘Market Communities’ survey – alexforlondon.com/housing – giving Londoners their say on what they would like the new market communities to look like.
The father-of-one, who has lived in London for the majority of his life and been a member of the Conservative Party since 1992, said:
“When I was in my 20’s it was possible to get on the housing ladder and buy a flat, but that’s an impossible dream for so many people now.
“We need a bold new housing plan to give the same opportunities to young people, families and key workers so they can live in a decent home for a fair price.
“They have been badly let down by Sadiq Khan over the past seven years and it’s time for actions rather than warm words.
“I want to see a comprehensive review of the green belt undertaken as soon as possible too. We need to find land that isn’t contributing to London communities now and put that land to good use as soon as possible.”
He added: “I’ll appoint a Chief Design Officer to help me lead the charge in finding, developing and seeing these new communities built and I’ll work with local councils to find the land – but I want Londoners to also help identify suitable land for housing.
“There will also be other sections of land that aren’t currently green belt and that should be – I’ll take action on both fronts, so every bit of land is delivering benefits for Londoners.
“My plan is for 50,000 new homes and I want Londoners to help shape what these new Market Communities will look like.
“We shouldn’t be building homes in places where the infrastructure is already creaking.
While Transport for London would provide the transport I want to hear from people what infrastructure needs to be in place for these new communities to thrive.”
Alex’s housing plan would see developers put forward a 15% infrastructure levy on developments upfront, raising millions of pounds, to help build the new Market Communities.
The Chief Design Officer would oversee the new developments, which will have hubs and pubs serving each new community and a market square.
Mayoral Development Corporations would be created to acquire the land, to ensure building works starts within the Mayor’s first term.
Alex, a leading public affairs specialist who has worked in the housing sector for more than 20 years, helped to run the first Conservative London Mayoral race for Steve Norris in 2000
His bid to become the next London Mayor already has the backing of several Conservative MPs, including the Rt Hon Robert Buckland KC MP, Jackie Doyle Price MP, Chris Loder MP and Lord Stewart Jackson, ex MP for Peterborough.
He has already announced a raft of new policy ideas to improve the lives of Londoners, including an immediate pause on extending the controversial ULEZ scheme to the outer parts of the city, schemes like Crossrail 2 & the Bakerloo line extension brought forward, a driverless tube network and 5G on the entire underground network.
He has also outlined in his campaign website how he would tackle rising crime in the capital, his plans for boosting London’s economy and his focus for education and young people.
Alex, a member of Islington North Conservative Association, has vowed to make the streets safer with a pledge to increase the number of officers dedicated to Safer Neighbourhood Teams by a third and by hiring an extra 1,000 officers to support a new dedicated police unit for burglary and car crime.
Alex, who has previously volunteered as a mentor to young boys from disadvantaged backgrounds, has promised to address the mental health crisis for young people by investing in more support services.
His economic plan will see new investment in tech industries and cutting taxes for community businesses such as pubs, leisure and garden centres.
