SADIQ KHAN defended his record on home-building in the capital today after Rishi Sunak announced a Downing Street intervention in London’s multidecade development plan.

The Prime Minister had earlier accused the capital’s mayor of failing to meet the city’s needs for new homes and said he had given Mr Khan a deadline of three to four months to agree changes to the plan before Housing Secretary Michael Gove considers whether to use his ministerial powers to intervene.

“The mayor has failed to deliver the homes that London needs,” Mr Sunak said ahead of a visit to a north-west London housing development.

“This has driven up house prices and made it harder for families to get on the housing ladder in the first place.

“That is why we are stepping in today to boost house building and make home ownership a reality again for people across this great city.”

Mr Khan responded to Mr Sunak directly in a tweet 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.”

A spokesperson for the mayor added: “These disappointing and disingenuous claims appear to show a fundamental lack of understanding of house building in London.  

“The mayor delivered record numbers of affordable homes over the last six years, consistently exceeding government targets despite the impact of the pandemic and Brexit.

“This has included starting more council homes than at any time since the 1970s.

“The mayor’s London Plan was approved by the government in 2021 and the ministers should know that the housing figures included within it are reliant on sufficient government investment being made in infrastructure, particularly transport.”

In recent days, the Tories have set out a range of reforms and proposals designed to boost house building in England.