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Property speculators have been warned there will be no Boris Johnson to run to their rescue if they want to build luxury flats on the Holloway Prison site.

Councillor Paul Smith said developers would have to play by Islington Council rules and build at least 50 per cent genuinely affordable housing once the prison closes.

The election of Labour Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has raised fresh hopes that the site can be used for housing that is affordable to most Londoners.

On Saturday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn joined around 100 protesters calling on the government to reverse the Housing and Planning Bill.

The protest came just days after the bill was forced through Parliament despite widespread concerns that it will cause huge rent rises, homelessness and lead to social cleansing of the capital.

Speaking outside London Metropolitan University, Mr Corbyn said the Holloway site must be used for council housing with secure tenancies and a women’s centre. He has already raised the issue with Mr Khan.

The march, organised by Islington Kill the Housing Bill and Reclaim Justice Network, set off up Holloway Road before making for Europe’s largest women’s prison, which justice secretary Michael Gove says will close this summer. The closure is part of a plan to shut Victorian prisons across the country and build nine new prisons.

Campaigners fear the 10-acre site, valued at £200m, will be sold to a private developer to build luxury flats.

Addressing the march­ers, Reclaim Justice Network’s Rebecca Roberts said: “We need a council housing revolution, not a prison building revolution.

“The government is going to be closing prisons across the country and selling them to the private sector. There is a huge land-grab taking place.

“We want facilities and housing and places of safety for the women of London. The land at Holloway is our property. It is owned by the public and we must not give it up.

“We want social justice, not criminal justice. We want council homes, not prisons and we need services not prison centres.”

Cllr Smith, who spoke at the rally, told the Tribune the council has made it clear to the government that it is willing to work with it to build affordable homes.

“This is the best place in London to do it,” Cllr Smith said.

“If you are a speculator you should be very clear that there will be no Boris Johnson to run to your rescue now that we have a Labour mayor.” The council has a policy of demanding 50 per cent affordable housing at new developments. “We don’t want £600,000 starter homes,” Cllr Smith added.

The 500-capacity women’s prison is now half empty after 200 women were moved to HMP Downview in Surrey earlier this month. Women are also being sent to HMP Bronzefield, in Surrey.