Zac Goldsmith vows to build 'homes London needs'

Zac Goldsmith has vowed to build the homes London needs "without destroying the green spaces we love" if he is elected mayor next May.

He said he would use City finance to build affordable homes on publicly-owned brownfield land, in a speech to the Tory conference in Manchester.

He also vowed to fight air pollution and backed Crossrail 2.

He said he was ready for "the mother and father of all political battles" against Labour candidate Sadiq Khan.

He praised current Conservative mayor Boris Johnson, who had "defied political gravity" in beating Labour's Ken Livingstone twice.

He did not mention airport expansion in his speech to Tory activists - he is a noted opponent of the proposed third runway at Heathrow Airport.

He said at the general election, where he was re-elected by voters in Richmond Park by an increased majority, he was asked on the doorstep "how the hell are our kids going to get homes to live in?"

He said it was possible to build the homes London needs on brownfield land - saying land owned by Transport for London alone would be bigger than the borough of Camden.

He pledged to set up a fund to attract investment from "big institutional investors" to build a new generation of homes.

But he also said developments deserved to fail if they "trample on existing communities".

He said London was seen as a "safe bet for investors" but "where homes are bought purely as investments, and are left empty, that causes huge resentment".

He said the answer was not to close the door to outside investors, which he claimed the Labour Party wanted to do, but "capture that finance and use it to build the homes we need on publicly owned land".

He added: "When a new development is proposed for their community, it is often ugly, out-of-proportion, out-of-keeping - and it is simply dumped on them, with no thought as to the effect it will have on their area.

"There's no case for ignoring local opinion. Yes we need to build more, but we also need to build well.

"If we get it right, if we work with communities and give them a real say, then the opportunities are endless."

His Labour opponent, Sadiq Khan, said: "Zac Goldsmith is in complete denial - the Tories have made London's housing crisis many times worse.

"His first test of putting Londoners' interests first will be the Tory housing bill next month.

"This whole bill is an assault on London and will make it harder for Londoners to buy or rent a home. Anyone serious about representing London must vote against it."