Taxpayers could face £300m bill over bailout of Sadiq Khan’s ‘mismanaged’ London fund.H
The Mayor of London’s housing fund is in trouble over missed repayments, and auditors have warned about horrendous management.
Sadiq Khan speaks at the Natural History Museum (Image: Getty)
British taxpayers may be forced to cough up £300m for Sadiq Khan’s London housing fund after it repeatedly missed deadlines for a £300m loan.
Auditors have also raised concerns about the terrible management of the project. The Financial Times reported that auditors also raised concerns over whether Sadiq Khan would turn to “support” from his taxpayer-funded budget to help square the debts.
The fund, known as the Greater London Authority Land and Property Limited (GLAP), was inherited along with the debt from the Johnson administration in 2012.
GLAP is one of the largest public-sector landowners in the UK.
Its goal is to create thousands of new homes and help mitigate the country’s housing crisis.
The fund owns land in the London Docklands redevelopment area, near the O2. (Image: Getty)
Sadiq Khan at the illumination of the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree. (Image: Getty)
However, according to the London Centric news website, over the past six years, GLAP has consistently missed payment deadlines on a £300m Government loan and only made a first payment earlier this year.
To make matters worse, audit documents reveal auditors were unimpressed by the management standard.
The documents claim auditors were “not provided with evidence” about why repayments were not made.
“No supporting documentation to formally agree the non-repayment of the loan was provided,” the report added. “Minutes of meetings are … not taken showing any decisions made.
“There is a risk that decisions made on the loan have not been formally agreed, documented and processes are not in place for the management of risks.”
