Sadiq Khan urges London employers to help workers with soaring housing costs

London’s housing crisis is no secret. In a city where the overall housing shortfall has quadrupled since 2010 and garden sheds are sold as de facto homes for £70,000, it can be difficult for people to afford to stay in the capital.

For this reason, Sadiq Khan has urged employers to help their staff with the mounting cost of housing in London.

The London Mayor asked employers to offer loans for workers to cover their rental deposits. This is part of a wider campaign called Fifty Thousands Housing which calls for employers to pay staff the London Living Wage and offer support and advice for employees experiencing difficulties with housing.

Mr Khan announced that that all parts of the City Hall group, Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police, the London Fire Brigade and others, would offer staff loans for their rental deposits and urged other businesses in the capital to follow suit.

“It is unacceptable that so many hard-working Londoners continue to be priced out of their own city – it is bad for Londoners and bad for the future economic success of the capital," he said.

“I am determined to tackle the housing crisis head on and I will be using my new planning rules and my record funding deal with government to build new affordable homes to rent and buy.”

“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.”

Pip Clarke, a firefighter who is based at Twickenham Fire Station told The Independent she was now living in Brighton due to rising housing prices.

“I was looking to buy my first home but prices in and around London were far too expensive," she explained. "So we looked at Brighton which gave us much more for our money. I now drive from Brighton to Twickenham for my shifts, which can take anywhere between 90 minutes and three hours. So I have to factor in plenty of extra time to make sure I arrive on time. And it can be a long drive home after a busy day.”

The housing problem in London is also very difficult for renters, with data from housing charity Shelter recently finding over half of London’s 2.7 million private renters are struggling to pay their rent at least some of the time. What’s more, the study found that 400,000 Londoners constantly struggle to pay their rent or are falling behind.

Roger Harding, Director of Communications, Policy and Campaigns at Shelter, who is backing the campaign told The Independent it was “great” to see the mayor working with businesses.

“It’s great to see the Mayor of London working together with businesses in the capital to support hard pressed employees to cope with mounting housing costs in a creative way,“ Harding said.

“Through the pledges included in the Fifty Thousand Homes campaign, including the tenancy deposit scheme which was originally devised by Shelter, businesses will be able to help their employees’ secure a home in London’s challenging housing market. This in turn will enable businesses to attract and retain the best staff. The level of interest already shown is hugely encouraging.“

“Of course, while initiatives such as this are very welcome, long term solutions can only be found by addressing the underlying issue of the lack of genuinely affordable homes in London.”​

Naomi Smith, Director of the Fifty Thousand Homes campaign, said: “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.”

More than 100 employers including big companies such as Arup, Optimity, Arup, Mace Group and Grant Thornton UK LLP, have already signed up to the scheme. The idea mirrors the season company loans whereby some companies helps commuters pay for their travel costs.