19/05/2014 BBC London News

Good evening. The number of homes being built in

London which are funded by the mayor has fallen to its lowest level since

he took office six years ago, according to figures from the

Greater London Authority. It comes on the day a report by a leading

estate agent says the rate of population growth in the capital has

outstripped the rate of new homes by about 75%. Our political

correspondent Karl Mercer reports. Homes are being built across London,

the sound of drilling and the sight of cranes becoming more common as

the economy begins to improve. The problem is that this sort of sight

is not common enough. This Peabody Homes development in North

Kensington will see around 120 homes go up by next year, most of them

affordable. But the truth is that London's a long way behind building

the number of homes it needs to. The mayor's offices says that just to

keep pace with demand, London needs to build 42,000 homes a year. But

last year the capital added just over half of that to its housing

stock, just over 21,000 new properties. That's the lowest level

in the last nine years. And the number of largely affordable homes

funded by City Hall is also falling. Six years ago, 11,500 homes were

completed. That rose to more than 19,000 in

2011, but last year was less than 9,000. And this graph shows the

problem the capital faces. Its population has risen by 14% since

2002, the number of jobs by 15% but the number of new homes has only

gone up 9%. The gap is getting wider.

One of the problems that we are all seeing now is that supply is just

not there. We are falling short of the demand that London has got four

more homes. London is growing by 100,000 people a year, but the

housing supply is not to matching that or even keeping pace with what

we need before that growth. 93,000 houses have started to be built, but

123,000 homes haven't even started. As always, it is about politicians

being brave enough to confront the blockages. People don't want houses

next door. We are suggesting building new suburbs, but the people

living near their will on them jet. `` will object.

And that has long been a problem for politicians and developers alike.

Business leaders want a short list of public land that can be used for

homes drawn up. Without it, they say, the city will falter.

Well, in response City Hall says: The Mayor has set the most ambitious

house`building targets in City Hall's history. And during his

tenure, a record 100,000 low`cost homes are being built by the mayor

by 2016. There's been a fire tonight in a

market in Camden in north London. It broke out just after eight o'clock

this evening. Let's get more from Marc Ashdown who's there. If you

were in north London this evening, you might have seen a large cloud of

smoke flowing over Camden. That is because the famous stables market

was on fire. There are about 450 stalls there. 600 people were

evacuated before the fire brigade even arrived. 30 firefighters have

been on the scene all evening with tackling the blaze. It is fairly

quiet now. No reported injuries, but this will bring back memories of

2008 when a large fire devastated much of Camden market. No injuries

there, but a huge amount of damage. The main roads around here are

closed, causing traffic issues. As we know, they don't appear to be any

injuries, they appear to have brought this under control quite

safely. Thank you for the update, Marc.

Scotland Yard's head of armed policing has warned that proposals

to stop officers talking to each other in the aftermath of a fatal

shooting by police could lead to a drop in the number of firearms

officers in the capital. He says the plans drawn up by the police

watchdog would leave them feeling criminalised. Here's our home

affairs correspondent Guy Smith. He is a volunteer, as are more than

2000 firearms of this in the next four top but there are now fears

that a substantial number may put down their weapons. The police

watchdog, the IPCC, is objecting to changes in how officers provide

evidence after a death or serious injury. The police watchdog is

bearing its teeth. It plans to make it a legal requirement for Scotland

Yard officers to be separated after a serious incident so that they can

write up their witness statement Looe independently. `` their witness

statements. Commander Neal Bassi says:

That is something Irene Stanley disagrees with. A husband was shot

dead in 1989 in Hackney. Armed police mistook a table leg he was

carrying for a shot gun. She believes the guidance for officers

should have changed years ago. They shouldn't be allowed it together and

write their reports. They could be copying each other's notes. In an

ideal world, we wouldn't carry guns, but the reality is that they are

carried, and if police are using arms to protect their own personal

interest, that is not a good road to be going down. The Met says it is

consulting with the police watchdog. The Home Office will ultimately

decide on whether any changes go ahead.

I'll wish you a very good night and hand you over to Wendy for the

weather, which has been rather lovely.

It has, 26 degrees today. If you are going to Chelsea Flower Show

tomorrow, it will feel warm, but there is an increasing chance of

some showers. Through much of tonight, there will be dried, clear

conditions. A warm night, 13, 14 Celsius. And through the day

tomorrow, we have that risk of one or two showers, but a decent amount

of sunshine on and off throughout the day. Hi if 21 Celsius tomorrow.

And on the outlook, and settled conditions to come. Here's Nina

Ridge. Good evening. Our hotspot today was

Heathrow in London at 26 Celsius. Thunderstorms are rumbling on as

they push their way northwards. We will start dragging some mist and

low cloud. More of those thundery downpours to content with tomorrow.

Our main area of concern is through the south-west. A lot of rain

falling in a short space of time with potentially gusty winds. The

showers will drift their way northwards as the day goes on. We

keep a lot of the mist and low cloud, pegging back the

temperatures, but some areas could see temperatures in the 20s. The

forecast for this week will