Mr Khan secured a convincing victory in the race to become the new mayor of London earlier this month, which was helped by his plans to create more affordable housing. 

Outlining his housing policy, Mr Khan wanted to set up a new team dedicated to fast-tracking the building of genuinely affordable homes. The new mayor plans to make 50% of the minimum 80,000 new homes a year affordable. 

Mr Khan has already been helped by the news that the Housing and Planning Act 2016, which makes provisions about housing, planning and compulsory purchase, was given Royal Assent last week. 

The Federation of Master Builders, however, has raised concerns about Mr Khan’s plans for housing in London. Chief executive Brian Berry claims the new mayor’s affordable-housing targets would hurt SMEs.

“Khan’s 50% affordable-housing target is entirely unworkable. As has been observed by others, 50% of nothing is nothing, and this is a particularly pertinent issue for small developers. 

“We urged Khan  to introduce a small-site exemption, similar to that which central government is bringing forward in its Housing and Planning Bill. 

“This recognises that placing unrealistic affordable housing demands on small sites will leave thousands of projects across the city unviable and hugely increase the barriers to growth of smaller developers. 

“Khan’s ‘Homes for Londoners’ policy, which envisages the house-building sector working with City Hall to address the housing crisis, shows he is open to working directly with our industry.”

Meanwhile, Bob Sturges, Head of PR and Communications at Fortwell Capital, felt that although Mr Khan raised some good ideas, he questioned who would be building the thousands ofaffordable homes the new mayor identified as needed.

“I like in particular the proposal to free-up for house-building land owned by public bodies, such as TfL, and the plan to create a register of 'good and bad' landlords.

"But some of Sadiq Khan's other ideas look rather flimsy to me, and appear rooted in political rhetoric and dogma rather than market reality.

“Will taxpayers be required to subsidise developers? And [I] question his socialistic-sounding policy to intervene against overseas buyers looking to invest in the capital's housing market.”

Ashley Ilsen, Head of Lending at Regentsmead, also questioned Mr Khan’s plans and felt the new mayor was more focussed on the demand-side policies of making housing more affordable. 

“It’s obviously very early days but it would make more sense to see a focus on the genuine issues, such as the lack of new homes being built and some of the slow and arduous parts of the planning process. 

“So far we have had a lot of the jargon associated with being electable, but now it’s time to see this backed with some substance. 

“The hardest challenge for Sadiq Khan will be to try something different. 

“A lot of the policies from the government and City Hall we have seen haven’t made any significant change to the status quo, so I’m intrigued to see what Sadiq Khan can do that will start to make a genuine different.”

Scott Marshall, Director at Roma Finance, felt Mr Khan would struggle to implement his housing policy due to conflicting central-government policies. 

“[Following] the Chancellor's attack on private buy-to-let landlords, the number of rental properties available may also not grow in line with requirements, or even dwindle - it's a dichotomy for sure.

“Maybe what the new mayor needs to do is negotiate with the government for separate policies for London - in terms of buy-to-let tax, stamp duty, incentives for developers and faster planning approvals."

Bob concluded by saying that Mr Khan needed to realise that developers were not philanthropic or charitable organisations.

"I take particular exception to the mayor's implications that developers are a particular problem. 

“Perhaps he has yet to grasp that this entrepreneurial group serves a vital purpose long since abandoned by local government in any meaningful sense.

"Sadiq Khan won a convincing victory against a hapless Tory opponent. 

“But his honeymoon period will be short. 

“Let's see how quickly he can turn the fine words and sharp political instincts into results."