By Lord Bailey AM

London is not just facing a housing crisis, it now faces a housebuilding crisis.

To put it simply, we can no longer build homes. The number of private housing starts fell by 73% this year. The dream of home ownership has never been further away.

The meltdown within London’s housebuilding industry has widespread consequences for us all. Private rents are at their highest ever level.

The average room – not a flat, not even a studio, but a single bedroom in a shared house – now costs over £1,000 a month. A thousand pounds. For one room.

Londoners renting privately are trapped in a doom loop from which there is little hope. Despite working hard to earn a salary potentially well above the national average, saving a 10% deposit is an impossibility when you are spending over half of your monthly income on rent, and at a time when taxes for the average graduate are the highest they have ever been.

These Londoners subsidise the housing of others, yet they will never qualify for affordable or social housing themselves. But they will also........

© LBC