Sadiq Khan is promising to be the Mayor to fix London’s housing crisis as he hits the campaign trail ahead of the May 5 election.

Speaking to the Guardian from Tony's Café in High Road, Leyton, the Labour candidate spoke about standing up to rampant developers, the impact of gentrification in the borough, mini-Holland and enjoying a “cheeky Nando’s”.

“We need to start ensure developers build genuinely affordable homes in London”, he begins.

“The big problem is Boris has a London Plan that has developers believing they can build whatever and wherever they like.

“I want to see at least half of all new homes built being genuinely affordable for Londoners.

“What we are seeing is investors from overseas purchasing them from Hong Kong or Malaysia. I would stand up to developers and make them give first refusal to Londoners.”

Mr Kahn said the current housing policy was forcing evictees to accept homes 200 or 300 miles from their family networks.

His solution is for a new London wide letting agent which won’t rip off tenants but will provide the security of a three year tenancy that will only go up with the cost of inflation.

With house prices booming in Waltham Forest it has brought seen a wave of change in the area, with Walthamstow especially being seen as a hot bed of gentrification, a term Mr Kahn believes means “different things to different people”.

"For some it is a good example of areas becoming better, with independent coffee shops, nicer high streets, a good mix of people from different backgrounds”, he said.

“For others it means people who used to live here being turfed out and people who are far, far wealthier coming in putting up rents.

“One of the great things about the London that I grew up in is that we have always got on really well with people from different ethnicities and classes.

“I don’t want to live in Paris or New York where if you are rich you live in the inner city and if you’re poor you live in the suburbs.

“So gentrification to me means everyone benefitting from all types of background we are lucky to have here.”

The 44-year-old spoke in favour for the controversial mini-Holland scheme that has divided opinion with several road closures impacting car journey times.

“I want more cyclists in London because one of the biggest challenges we face in the city is air pollution”, he said.

“Our air is a killer, it makes you sick and it is illegal as it breaches EU air quality standards.

“Last year almost 10,000 Londoners died directly from the consequences of poor air quality.

“The problem is many people don’t feel safe cycling, it is a risk.

“We need to ban HGV lorries in central London in rush hour, provide more segregated cycle lanes and teach children how to ride a bike, like I did, at school.”

The Tooting MP was roundly criticised for saying London has too many chicken shops in a hustings despite attending the Chicken Cottage Awards as a guest of honour in 2012.

He clarified his position: “I love chicken shops. I am all for a cheeky Nando’s. The issue is we don’t want them to open near schools when childhood obesity is a big problem.

“For the council here to regenerate the high streets they need more licensing powers to provide a good mix of retail, not just betting shops, cheap chicken shops and pawn brokers which dominate poorer areas.

“Right now Boris is allowing the market to dictate terms.”

The Mayoral election is due to take place on May 5 2016.