Sadiq Khan could be set to pick Islington council’s housing chief James Murray as his deputy mayor for housing, after winning London’s mayoral election.
Murray, currently Islington council’s executive member for housing & development, is the frontrunner to be named Khan’s deputy mayor for housing, according to several sources.
Khan emerged as the clear leader in the race for City Hall on first preferences this afternoon, comfortably ahead of the Conservative’s Zac Goldsmith.
Landing the deputy mayor role – occupied during Boris Johnson’s time in City Hall by Richard Blakeway, now advisor to David Cameron – would allow Murray to shape London’s housing policy.
Murray, a Labour councillor, has held the housing brief at Islington since 2010.
The borough is considered one of the most difficult in London to bring forward developments.
Crackdown on viability tests
The rules force developers to publish viability assessments, unless keeping them confidential was in the public interest.
At the time, Murray said: “There is growing evidence some developers use viability assessments to their advantage, such as inflating land costs to say they can’t afford to build affordable housing.
“We’re setting out new rules to make sure developers can’t game the system.
“We want to make the system transparent, clear, and fair, to help make sure the affordable housing we badly need is built.”
Murray did not respond to Property Week’s request for comment.
Khan could not be reached for comment.
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