The Tory candidate to be London's Mayor has been blasted for a tirade against high-rise flats - sparking fears she could block tens of thousands of new homes. Susan Hall recorded a video in which she dismissively claimed that tower blocks were "not where you could raise a family". She's vowed to stop more going up - a move
Labour says would mean 12,000 fewer homes in the capital if she wins next month. Candidates are under pressure to deliver tens of thousands of new homes in London. But Ms Hall claims high rise blocks - classified as those over 18 metres tall with more than six floors - aren't the answer. In a video earlier this year she claimed: “We have nothing but tower rises – one and two bedroom flats. That’s not where you can build a family. That’s not where you can set down roots.” On March 21 she pledged more family homes and "not more tower blocks", saying she'd focus on "high density and low rise". Tory
London mayoral candidate Susan Hall has been criticised ( Image: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock) She has been blasted by Labour Mayor
Sadiq Khan , who has vowed to deliver 40,000 new homes by the end of the decade. He said: “A Conservative Mayor would take us backwards with an anti-housing programme, undoing the progress we’ve made and cancelling thousands of council homes for Londoners. This is a tight, two-horse race, and it’s clear London can’t afford the cost of a hard-right, anti-housing Conservative Mayor.” Half of homes built in the capital since 2002 are classed as high rise, with these buildings containing an average of 58 homes, Government figures show. If Ms Hall does block them, Labour believes, it would mean around 12,000 less homes by the end of the decade, based on the current Mayor's target. A Labour source told The Mirror this would be "catastrophic" for the delivery of new homes. They warned that cutting building density would make new projects less cost-effective - meaning many could be abandoned. London will go to the polls on May 2. Last month a YouGov poll of more than 1,100 voters suggested Mr Khan has a 25 point lead over his Tory rival. In November The Mirror reported that London had increased its housing stock by 8% since Mr Khan took office in 2016, compared to just 6% for the rest of England. If
England had increased its housing stock at the same rate, it would have meant a 300,000 increase across the country - equal to the Government’s housing target for an entire year. Join our Mirror Politics
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