Insights

The Government recently published Planning Statistics for the year to March 2025. For the 32 London boroughs, the statistics showed some interesting features. First, they showed that all but three boroughs – Camden, Ealing and Harrow delegated decisions to officers on 90% or more of the applications they received; and that 19 of them delegated decisions on more than 98% of applications. Two boroughs - Enfield and Redbridge - delegated decisions on nearly 100% of applications. Second, rates of approval varied much more widely, from an outlier of 64% in Hounslow, to 98% in neighbouring Hammersmith and Fulham. Rates of approval can vary for many different reasons, of course, good and bad. They depend crucially on the nature and the numbers of applications each borough receives and on ...

The first initiative to bring London-based amenity societies together as a federation was the brainchild of two prominent and environmentally-committed members of the Blackheath Society, Neil Rhind and Tony Aldous. Neil, whose expertise was on the history and social development of Blackheath, had been the Society's press officer and later its President from 2016 to his death in 2023. Tony, a journalist, wrote on environmental issues for The Times and The Independent. He published many books on environmental matters, one of which was "London Villages". Tony was also a member of the Blackheath Society. As co-editor of the Civic Trust’s bi-monthly magazine Heritage Outlook, he was a regular visitor to its headquarters at 17 Carlton House Terrace. The Civic Trust was an independent national environmental charity set up ...

This is the second in a series of articles on London’s population, making use of the Office of National Statistics’ latest growth projections, published recently here. The focus is on variations across both inner and outer London boroughs. Context: London and the rest of the country London currently has a population of around 9.1 million, representing 15% of the total population of England and Wales. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has published its latest projections which show that London’s population is expected to have grown by 6.7% by 2032, to around 9.7 million. Three points are worth noting here.

• first, London’s likely growth is just above the national average of 6.4%
• second, London’s growth will be driven solely by migration: a combination of internal migration from ...
  
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London’s Freedom Pass was introduced in 1973, and it has had a profound impact on the lives of Londoners, particularly, of course, those with a disability and those over state-pensionable age. But its very success may cast its future into doubt as the numbers and proportions of older people among London’s residents continues to increase, and as fares rise ahead of inflation. Eligibility Eligibility has changed somewhat over the years. Until April 2010, the pass was available to any London resident over the age of 60. Since then, the age threshold has risen in line with the state-pension age for women; it is currently 66, though it could rise further in future. Residents between 60 and 65 can pay £20 for a 60+ Oyster card, with all the ...