Ken's housing target is rejected

The Mayor is failing to enforce his target of 50 per cent affordable housing across London.

Ken Livingstone's recent effort to force Richmond council to increase its affordable housing provision from 40 to 50 per cent has been rebuffed by the Deputy Prime Minister's office.

After taking the Mayor's request into account, it said: "The particular facts of the case were not felt to justify an increase in Richmond's target to 50 per cent."

Richmond's Conservative leader Tony Arbour said: "This is a victory for common sense. In Richmond, 50 per cent was never faintly realistic. We believe that imposing it would have led to less development overall and therefore less affordable housing.

"The Mayor must realise that he does not always know what is best for every part of the capital. This is our borough and we know what works here."