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Social Housing in London

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that important contribution. Of course it is true that not everybody wants to live in family-sized homes, but the problem in the past was that small properties were the only affordable housing on offer. A large number of families in our communities need affordable houses, and one or two-bedroom, even three-bedroom, flats simply do not accommodate them properly. It would also be nice to think that families might have a bit of green space outside and not always be housed in large blocks of flats. Of course there has to be a balance, but in the past family-sized houses were neglected; it was too easy to tick boxes, as the previous Mayor did, to say, ““I've delivered X affordable homes,”” but they were flats rather than the family-sized houses that many of us think of when we hear the word ““homes””. My request to the Minister is that he ensures the Government are fully aware that London's special circumstances make it important to recognise the particular problems of housing associations when they are providing housing in areas where market rents are high.