The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has today named London’s first Housing Zones that will pave the way for thousands of new jobs in the construction industry.

In nine boroughs, the new Zones will bring forward enormous regeneration and transform key areas of the capital, with £260 million of new investment to deliver 28,000 much needed new homes across the capital.

London’s first Housing Zones will unlock the redevelopment of 1897.42 hectares of brownfield land across the capital, the equivalent of 2,656 football pitches.

The special status has been awarded to areas identified by London boroughs as key opportunity sites, to maximise development, fast track homes and deliver much needed infrastructure to boost development. The Housing Zone status will remain until 2025.

Part of the Mayor’s commitment to double housebuilding as London’s population continues to boom, the first of the new Zones will create more than 56,000 construction jobs on 52 schemes across the capital.

Creating first class new neighbourhoods, measures agreed within the Zones include: 5 station upgrades; 5 new schools; 4 new bridges, 2 new civic centres; a new park, a new ‘3G’ football pitch, shops, restaurants, and libraries. They will also include more than 9,000 low cost homes, for some of the capital’s most essential workers.

The Mayor’s announcement comes on the day he and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, outlined a package of measures to boost the city’s economy and support infrastructure including housing.

London’s first Housing Zones will be in the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Ealing, Royal Borough of Greenwich, Haringey, Harrow, Hounslow, Lewisham, Wandsworth. More across London are currently being considered with around 20 expected to be designated by later his year. Together they will provide over 50,000 new homes across London.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “As London’s population continues to boom, already at its highest since records began and with more growth predicted, housing is a huge challenge. We need to double housebuilding and provide a million more homes by 2025.

“These innovative new Housing Zones, the first of their kind in the UK, will trigger regeneration and turbo boost the transformation of the capital’s brownfield sites, creating tens of thousands of new homes for hard working Londoner in first class new neighbourhoods.”