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RPs and affordable homes
The Home Builders Federation posted on LinkedIn they had investigated the effects of lack of bids from Registered Providers (RPs) on housing delivery nationally and found :-
An estimated 900 completed Section 106 Affordable Housing units remain empty due to the absence of a contract with a Registered Provider.
Around 8,500 Section 106 Affordable Homes either under construction or due to commence construction within the next 12 months are not currently contracted.
More than 700 sites have been delayed or stalled in the past three years due to developers’ inability [more…]
LPAs and Biodiversity
The “Biodiversity Evidence – Better Outcomes from Planning” project of ‘Greenspace Information for Greater London’ aims to understand the challenges, limitations and needs of Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) in London with regards to taking account of biodiversity early on in the planning process, and to provide resources to help them overcome some of these issues.
Their report can be downloaded from here.
High quality Social Housing
The Policy Exchange has a 35-Point Blueprint for a New Generation of Superlative British Social Housing. It calls for a new generation of exemplary council housing that will restore the traditional, humanist social and design ideals that marked the early iterations of English public housing. The report argues that by so doing, not only will we help solve the affordability riddle that lies at the heart of the housing crisis, but we will provide the growth, prosperity and social mobility that will help turbo-charge the economy and [more…]
Access to Green Space
CPRE (London) will run a live-stream event on Thursday 25th September 2025 on Inequality in Access to Green Space in London. Tickets are free.
Economic growth
The Resolution Foundation claims that growth would make all the Government’s challenges easier to solve – but it is not straining every sinew to achieve it.
Moped kills cyclist
The Standard reports a cyclist in Hammersmith’s part-segregated Cycleway 9 was hit by a moped and died. LCC CEO Tom Fyans criticised the cycleway design which allows mopeds to enter it.
This is the sixth cyclist death this year and TfL is raising awareness of Highway Code rules.
An illegal e-bike boom article in the Guardian reported some of them capable of 70mph.
Hogarth roundabout tall building
The ‘Chiswick Calendar’ website reports that residents are taking their objections to a proposed high development alongside Hogarth roundabout at 1 Burlington Lane to the Mayor. They claim it would harm Chiswick House and Grounds, Hogarth’s House, several conservation areas, local views and the Kew WHS Royal Botanical Gardens. Hounslow Council’s Planning Committee gave the development the go-ahead despite only 6% affordable housing.
![SUVs in street [Photo: freepik.com]](https://i0.wp.com/www.londonforum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/153436.jpg?fit=1500%2C1000&ssl=1)
Increase in SUVs
The Assembly’s Transport Committee is calling for more to be done to discourage SUV car use after their number increased ten-fold in London since 2002.
There is an article in BBC News on this subject.
The vehicles tend to be heavier, larger and more polluting than other cars. Imperial College London found that if hit by an SUV compared to being hit by a smaller car you are 44% more likely to be killed. For children it’s 82% as the taller, blunter bonnets means they are more likely to be [more…]
Homes on Green Belt
The OnLondon news channel is one to which London Forum recommends its members should subscribe. Its edition here includes a review of the progress of review of LB Enfield’s new Local Plan. It promotes the use of Green Belt land for housing and the arguments for and against that will be considered by the Inspector in the examination’s stage three in October 2025.
There are other news items of interest in the OnLondon website including an Earls Court special, details of proposals to address use of mobile phones [more…]
High quality design
As the Planning and Infrastructure Bill makes its way through Parliament, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has lodged an amendment to the Bill to ensure design quality is at the heart of new development.
The amendment requires spatial development strategies, such as the London Plan, to include a design vision for the strategy area that meets the practical needs of residents and communities, and reflects the principles of safety, sustainability and accessibility.
Right to Buy sales
The Government published figures in a report for the number of social homes sold, the number replaced and the receipts for LPAs.
Annual eligible sales in London peaked at 4,000 in 2014 and declined after that as discounts were reduced, although receipts from sales remained high.
Replacement properties for those sold have increasingly failed to meet the one-for-one target since 2017-18, as described in the report, and some reasons are suggested.
Chief Planner’s update
On 19th August 2025 Joanna Averley, the MHCLG Chief Planner issued an update to planners in local authorities on recent Government planning proposals, a faster Local Plan system, reform of the Statutory Consultee system, planning fees, a consultation on electricity network infrastructure and a survey on the use of digital Design Codes.
The Planning Advisory Service (PAS) has produced a toolkit to help councils review their planning committees.