Work began on more than 1,000 new affordable homes in Enfield and Haringey under City Hall-led schemes during the last year.

Figures show there were 1,217 affordable home starts on Greater London Authority (GLA) housing programmes in the two boroughs between April 2019 and March 2020.

That breaks down to 798 in Haringey and 419 in Enfield.

It represents three times as many in Haringey and twice as many in Enfield compared to same period during the previous year, as the London-wide figure – more than 17,000 – climbed to the highest since records began in 2002-03.

Many of the homes – 44 per cent in Haringey and 62 per cent in Enfield – will be available at social rent or London Affordable Rent, with the rest at other affordable rates and tenures such as London Living Rent and shared ownership.

London Assembly Member for Enfield and Haringey Joanne McCartney welcomed the figures but called on the Government to boost funding in City Hall’s affordable housing schemes.

Ms McCartney said: “These new record-breaking figures are very promising and show that City Hall is making strong progress in its efforts to turn the tide on our housing crisis.

“The Covid-19 outbreak has thrown our need for more genuinely affordable homes into even sharper relief, with too many in our community facing lockdown in wholly inadequate overcrowded or temporary accommodation, having to pay exorbitant rents, or whilst left out on our streets.”

A GLA report published in 2019 stated Government investment in City Hall affordable homes projects would need to rise seven-fold to meet the scale of housing demand.

Meanwhile, a briefing from London Councils showed the capital’s allocation of funding for affordable housing fell from £3.72 billion between 2008 and 2011 to just £627 million from 2011 to 2015.

Ms McCartney added: “Big obstacles lie ahead for our housing market and construction industry. As we begin to come out of the first wave of this pandemic, we need to be able to rely on the Government to make the right strategic choices about how we rebuild our society.

“This is why I am urging the Government to seize the initiative and properly invest in City Hall’s affordable housing schemes, which are still underfunded seven times over. Since 2016, City Hall has proved year after year that it is best placed to get to grips with the housing crisis, even in the midst of turmoil and uncertainty.”

In 2018, the Government lifted a cap on borrowing to allow local authorities to provide more council homes.

It has also invested £9 billion through its Affordable Homes Programme to provide around 250,000 new affordable homes across several tenures, including social rent and shared ownership.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Building the homes the country needs is a priority for the Government. We’ve removed the borrowing cap, freeing up councils to build more, but this report ignores building by housing associations who deliver the vast majority of new affordable homes.

“Since 2012, the social housing waiting list has decreased by 37 per cent, and since 2010 we have delivered over 464,500 new affordable homes, including affordable and social rent homes.

“We’re also investing £12 billion to build affordable homes between 2021 and 2026 – the biggest cash investment in affordable housing for a decade.”