The new Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has hit out at the London Rental Standard – a flagship programme launched by his predecessor Boris Johnson.

Khan claimed Johnson was asleep at the wheel when he ignored repeated warnings to can the scheme and pushed ahead with it in May 2013.

The London Rental Standard, described at the time of launch as a blueprint for other local authorities, was intended to accredit 100,000 landlords and agents by this year.

However, it has so far attracted just 1,800 landlords and a total of 349 agents – of whom, just ten have signed up in the last year.

Khan said it had achieved nothing for tenants, who suffer from poor conditions, high rents and insecurity in the private rented sector

Khan said Johnson was warned before launch that it would take over 50 years to reach the 100,000 target; that there were not the resources to enforce it; and that the target was clearly unrealistic and unachievable.

Khan did not, however, say whether he is going to abolish the scheme, but did state: “I am determined to get a grip on the private rented sector.”

He had earlier criticised Johnson of “leaving the cupboard bare” when it came to delivering affordable housing.

He said that last year, the previous Mayor delivered the lowest number of new affordable homes (4,880) since records began back in 1991, and that there were almost none in the pipeline.

There had also been a flawed process of identifying public land for homes. Johnson’s work to produce a digital ‘Doomsday Book’ of public land in fact includes scores of sites that will never be built on, including 10 Downing Street, City Hall and the British Museum.