Khan Announces Fund to Convert Thousands of London Homes to Social and Temporary Housing

Part of government grants for London boroughs to build new affordable homes will be used to buy existing homes under a new plan announced by London Mayor Sadiq Khan. Greater London Authority said on Friday that councils can bid for money from the new Council Homes Acquisition Programme (CHAP) so they can buy homes in their boroughs from the private market and turn them into social rented housing or temporary accommodation for homeless households. According to London Councils’ estimate published in August, almost 170,000 people, including 83,000 children, were homeless and placed in temporary accommodation by councils. The mayor said CHAP is “the first part” of his plan to buy “10,000 homes over the next decade.”...