I have to admire the way that Sadiq Khan has plotted his way to be the new Mayor of London. He has seen off a very strong alternative in Tessa Jowell, who many felt was a shoo-in for office. He has also overcome a negative campaign from his main rival Zac Goldsmith.

However, after an election that has left many Londoners uninspired by the candidates and their policies, the Mayor now has the very difficult job of finding a way to achieve his objectives.

Many of these objectives are conflicting. Take his desire for 50% affordable housing. Careful judgement will be needed about insisting that developers hit this target while risking that the construction tap is turned off through lack of financial viability. Equally there is potential conflict in the pledges to cap transport fares and to build thousands of homes on TfL's extensive land portfolio. It is essential that the Mayor continues to invest vast sums of money in the transport network, but he also wants to provide 50% affordable housing on publicly owned land. He will have done a fantastic job if he can make the respective investment sums add up, but in reality he will need to compromise to deliver viable solutions.

The challenge of combining these aims is neatly summed up in the Mayor's acceptance speech when he said that he wanted to build better futures for Londoners with decent and affordable homes and a comfortable commute that they can afford.

One disappointment of the election campaign has been the absence of a real public debate about what London will look like with 50,000 new homes a year. The Mayor has committed to protecting London's character while increasing the scale of development. I don't believe that ordinary Londoners and many property professionals have much idea what this amount of development would look and feel like in their areas, even if the target is remotely achievable. The election campaign was an excellent time to hold that debate, and the Mayor should now encourage greater engagement in how the housing problem can be solved.

I wish Sadiq Khan the best of luck and look forward to continuing to help London to thrive and meet its needs.

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