No more excuses" was the message from Mayor of London Ken Livingstone yesterday when he criticised Barnet Council's failure to meet social housing targets.

Visiting Burnt Oak, Mr Livingstone pledged £4billion over the next three years to build new homes in London.

And he said councils falling short of his targets can no longer use lack of cash as an excuse.

He said: "The money is available from this month for the next three years. Barnet Council has been saying for years it hasn't got the money, but it can no longer use that as an excuse.

"Four years ago, my London Plan said one third of new homes should be for social rent. Some boroughs have complied, but Barnet provided ten per cent last year.

"If a small group of Tory boroughs aren't doing their share, it puts massive pressure on the other boroughs."

Mr Livingstone was keen to put the boot into the council, telling one resident: "I have done everything I can to get rid of them." But he also praised the borough's regeneration projects.

He insisted one of the most important features of new estates like Brent Cross, Cricklewood, would be the mixture of owned and socially-rented homes. New planning rules demand that half of new homes in large-scale developments are available for social rent or joint-ownership schemes.

"We've got three huge developments in the borough, and what I want is mixed communities," he added. "A big mistake in the post-war years was the creation of big areas where people rented and big areas where people owned their homes."

He believes this combination, along with the maintenance of town centres like Burnt Oak, will prevent more affluent residents moving away and stop inner-London problems spilling into the outer boroughs.

He also denied the pressure to provide affordable housing would lead to over-crowding and defended the design of the regeneration projects.

"They've pushed them as far as they can. If we've got good architects it's proven in Amsterdam and Denmark that projects like this can be attractive and can work," he said.

"If we're doing high-density you can't cut corners anywhere. You have to use good materials and if there needs to be a lift, it has to be the most expensive lift - you can't get away with providing cheap housing."