The Opposition Group is bringing a motion to the Richmond Council meeting on 2 December, pushing the Council to invest in more truly affordable homes, such as social rented.
Data from the GLA shows that:
- only 40 genuinely affordable homes were completed in the borough since March 2022, with zero so far this year.
- affordable housing supply has dwindled year on year since 2018 – just 166 completed since 2018/19 when this administration took over, yet 491 new affordable homes were completed over the previous eight years. [1][2]
This is despite opportunities for the Council to do so, including at Twickenham Riverside, which has just had another planning application for the site approved. In the officers’ report on the application, it quotes an email from the Council’s Housing Policy team:
“The Council is disappointed that the applicant [the Council] has not actively sought to secure funding to provide Social Rented homes on the site in place of London Affordable Rent. Social rented housing is a priority to deliver in the borough as per the newly adopted Local Plan (para 17.20); “The Council priority is social rented homes, as this is most affordable product available.”.” [3]
The Housing Policy response to the application criticised the Council for not:
- ignoring its own Local Plan
- not responding to the GLA’s offer of grant to change the tenure of homes at Twickenham Riverside to the most needed, lowest cost rent available,
- failing to use its own in-house expertise to negotiate this.
Cllr Andrée Frieze, Opposition Leader, says:
“I sat on this Planning Committee and I was shocked to read this in the papers. When I questioned officers to find out if Council was following up on the GLA’s offer to create social rent homes on Twickenham Riverside from December 2024, the officer said: ‘I think discussions are taking place.’
“This Council needs to be doing more than merely ‘thinking’ about social rent homes, it needs to be providing them, to put an end to residents being placed in temporary accommodation, often outside the borough, costing the Council nearly £10 million every year.” [4]
Instead, the Liberal Democrat administration in Richmond has made it very clear where its priorities lie. Within two days of the Budget, the Council put out a press release worried for residents being squeezed by the new council tax on properties valued at more than £2 million. [5]
[ends]
Editor’s Notes:
[1] Question by Cllr Crookdake, answered by Cllr Varley – https://cabnet.richmond.gov.uk/documents/b500002462/Written%20Questions%20Tuesday%2007-Oct-2025%2019.00%20Council.pdf?T=9
[5] https://richmond.gov.uk/news/news_november_2025/leader_warns_of_budget_squeeze
Motion text:
“This council expresses deep concern that:
- only 40 genuinely affordable homes were completed in Richmond since March 2022, with zero so far this year.
- Affordable housing supply has dwindled year on year since 2018 – just 166 completed since 2018/19 when this administration took over, yet 491 new affordable homes were completed over the previous eight years.
This council reiterates the need for social rent housing and commits to pursuing all options to increase their number including, but not limited to, converting Shared Ownership, Market, and London Living Rent to Social Rent on developments already given planning permission and hereafter.
This council reiterates the need for social rent housing and commits to pursuing all options to increase their number including, but not limited to, converting Shared Ownership, Market, and London Living Rent to Social Rent on developments already given planning permission and hereafter.”
Ref: https://cabnet.richmond.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=173&MId=500000525
