Sunak and Khan clash over PM's claim London mayor failing to build homes

The pair were involved in a Twitter spat, with Khan saying claims are 'desperate nonsense'

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, left, and Sadiq Khan, mayor of London. Getty Images

Rishi Sunak has become embroiled in a row with the mayor of London, who he accused of failing to build enough homes in the capital.

The Prime Minister and Sadiq Khan were involved in a Twitter spat after it was announced rules on how £1 billion ($1.28 billion) allocated for affordable housing in London will be relaxed to support the regeneration of older social housing estates.

The announcement was accompanied by a tweet from Mr Sunak in which he took a swipe at the mayor.

“Labour's Sadiq Khan has failed to deliver the homes London needs, driving up prices and making it harder for families to get on the housing ladder,” he said.

“So I'm stepping in to boost housebuilding and make home ownership a reality again for Londoners.”

But Mr Khan hit back at the Prime Minister, saying: “Are you the same guy who dropped his house-building targets?

“Because I'm the guy who started building more council homes than the rest of England combined, exceeded your affordable homes targets and built more homes of any kind than since the 1930s. This is desperate nonsense.”

Earlier this week, Mr Sunak hit out at “top-down targets” for housebuilding, but in recent days his government has also set out a range of reforms and proposals intended to boost the number of new homes being built in England.

He pledged to build the bulk of new homes in major cities and vowed not to “concrete over the countryside”.

Number 10 announced it will launch a review of the multi-decade London plan, which is intended to guide the development of the city over the next 20 to 25 years.

The government said it would look at prioritising sites chosen for housebuilding in London, with the aim of putting more focus on central sites close to Tube stations.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove will work with the Labour mayor to accelerate residential development on inner city brownfield sites and has the right to directly intervene if progress has not been made by the autumn.

Rishi Sunak on a visit to a housing development in west London. AFP

Downing Street also announced an additional £200 million for development of brownfield areas in the capital, of which £150 million will go directly to boroughs, bypassing the mayor's office.

Speaking on a visit to a housing development in Hayes, west London, where he met residents and developers, Mr Sunak rejected calls by the mayor to give his office the powers to introduce a system of rent controls.

“Wherever they have been used, rent controls don't work,” he said. “They just reduce the supply of new housing and reduce the quality of it as well. That is not the right answer to this question.”