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Talks between Theresa May and Sadiq Khan ended in soured relations after Downing Street today accused the mayor of “dragging his feet” on building homes for Londoners.

A war of words broke out after the private meeting at 10 Downing Street, where Mrs May called for “much more ambitious and pro-active approaches” from the Mayor and council leaders to unlock developments.

Mr Khan’s team voiced surprise, saying Mrs May had not made such strong criticism to his face.

The skirmish suggests the Tories are gearing up to put Labour councils’ record on home-building at the heart of their campaign for next year’s borough elections.

Mrs May was said to have called for the rapid development of some 5,700 acres of land owned by Transport for London, chaired by Mr Khan, as it had “huge potential” for flats and houses.

Government sources said the PM had expressed concern that “just 371 affordable homes have been started in London so far” in the 2017/18 year, despite some £3.15 billion being provided.

She is said to have scolded him by saying the supply of homes in London was the responsibility of City Hall and the 32 boroughs.

The meeting was part of Mrs May’s regular talks with the Mayor of London and other heads of devolved administrations on a range of issues.

A Government source later went further by saying there was concern that Mr Khan was not acting fast enough. “The housing crisis is one of the most serious issues facing Londoners today - yet the Mayor is failing to take the action necessary to increase house building in the capital.

“The Prime Minister has made clear the Mayor needs to deliver a housing strategy which includes an ambitious annual housing target and a credible plan for identifying land suitable for development. The Mayor simply cannot continue to drag his feet any longer.”

A source close to the Mayor hit back, saying: “Clearly the Prime Minister’s dreadful week has got to her as she didn’t say that in the meeting. Sadiq inherited a dreadful housing crisis from his Tory predecessor and the Tory Government, and he is doing everything possible within his powers to turn it round - but this will take time.

“If the Prime Minister knew the first thing about housing she would know that the shockingly low number of houses being built now are the pipeline inherited from Boris Johnson - her Foreign Secretary. This pathetic party politics will not solve the housing crisis. It’s time the Prime Minister gave London the powers and resources we need to build the homes Londoners need.”

There were 7,350 starts on new homes from July to December 2016, when Mr Khan was first Mayor of London, according to official statistics. That was down from 10,410 in the same period in 2015 under Mr Johnson, and down from 9,720 starts from January to June 2016, when they overlapped.

The talks also covered devolution and the planned Crossrail 2 north-south route.