London’s housing crisis is being fuelled by councils failing to hit building targets, according to a new report.

Analysis for the study shows only 18 out of 33 London authorities met or exceeded their annual housing targets between 2010 and 2013.

In Kensington and Chelsea the percentage of the three-year target for new homes met was just 5.3.

Other poorly performing councils were Havering (24.5 per cent) and Redbridge (38.8 per cent), claims the research from planning consultancy Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners and business group London First.

Councils at the top of the housing league table during the period were Hillingdon (229 per cent), Sutton (219.5 per cent) and Harrow (139.5).

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The report, Carrots and Sticks, calls for the Mayor of London to be given new powers to determine all planning applications for 50 homes or more where boroughs fail to hit housing targets.

It also suggests a new financial reward called the London Housing Delivery Bonus to incentivise councils beating their house-building targets.

The London Mayor’s annual target for new homes has recently increased from 32,000 homes to a year to 42,000 but the report concludes “missing the capital’s overall house-building target has become as inevitable as night follows day”.

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James Fennell, managing director of Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners, said: “There are plenty of people wanting to buy – if we make it easier and more attractive for them to do so without building significantly more new homes then this will just fuel demand and push up prices, making the problem even worse.

“We must address supply but, simply put, the incentives to London’s boroughs to accommodate more homes are just too weak at present.

“Introducing a new financial incentive to encourage boroughs to support more homes in their area could help deliver a step-change in house-building.

“Likewise, where boroughs continually fail to meet their house-building targets, the Mayor should be given new planning powers to kick start development.”

Baroness Jo Valentine, chief executive of London First, said: “Politicians make grand gestures about boosting the supply of housing but most lack the responsibility and accountability for making this happen.

“An important step to deal with the housing crisis in London is to use a carrot and stick approach with boroughs. This will help close the yawning gap between political rhetoric about getting homes built and the reality of how many are actually completed.”

See the full Carrots and Sticks report here