More than 6,000 households are on Kingston Council’s waiting list for social housing, new figures have revealed.

The figures, released by the Department of Communities and Local Government, relate to 9.7 per cent of the borough’s population and excludes those households looking for a transfer.

In Kingston, the number of households on a waiting list rose from 5,616 in 2007 to 6,127 in 2008.

Executive member for housing, Councillor Penny Shelton, said she was not surprised by the statistics.

“We have always had a big list and it is always a constant battle with our small housing stock and the absence of available land to use,” she said.

Coun Shelton said between 2007 and 2008 the council had managed to rehome 493 households and had a range of schemes in place.

These include the Home Finder scheme, offering homeless people privately-rented accommodation, and an incentive to move scheme to release larger properties for families on the waiting list.

She said the recession had been a factor but the council was working hard, including releasing a 27-home development on the former Ely Court site in Cambridge Road, to alleviate some of the pressure on the list.

Responding to the figures, London Assembly member Darren Johnson called on Mayor Boris Johnson to act by increasing investment in public housing and ensuring 60 per cent of all new homes are affordable.

He said: “The Mayor must take strong action quickly, to avoid adding to a problem that will already take years to solve.”

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