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Assembly Affordable Housing report
The London Assembly Housing Committee published a report on affordable housing delivery. It shows that, as of March 2025, starts had been made on 5,200 new homes compared with a target of a minimum of 17,800.
Details and comments are at
London Assembly affordable housing monitor 2025.
Savills: Challenges for affordable housing delivery in London.
Rhys Williams: Politics and market reality are worlds apart.
Funding for Councils
London Councils, representing all local authorities in London, is urging the government to ensure its Fair Funding Review 2.0 proposals distribute funding to local authorities fairly and efficiently on the basis of need. London Councils’ analysis here highlights serious issues within the Government’s proposals that risk dramatically underestimating levels of need for local services in London.
London Councils is calling for a more accurate approach to assessing local levels of need, which is key to ensuring available resource matches need, sustaining hard-pressed local [more…]
Living on the streets
TfL have been granted permission to clear a temporary encampment of homeless people on the strip of green land in the centre of Park Lane. The Mayor pledged to end rough sleeping in the capital by 2030, as in the update in July on rough sleeping.
Figures from the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) released as here show that almost 4,400 people were “living on the streets” in London from April – June 2025 which is up 26% from the same period last year and more than [more…]
Lime loses e-bike contract
Hounslow Council has sacked Lime as the provider of e-bike services in the borough after a string of complaints from residents. In June 2025 there were nearly 30,000 active Lime users there but a minority of them dumped bikes anywhere.
Forest and Voi will become the borough’s exclusive e-bike operators from Monday 11 August 2025. A report is on the local community website here.
Building More Homes
The Housing and Land Directorate in the GLA has presented for approval by the Mayor a Building More Homes strategic programme to contribute to the aim that Londoners live in homes they can afford. Details are here.
It includes activity towards meeting the Mayor’s commitment to deliver 40,000 new council homes, delivery of 6,000 ‘rent control’ homes for key workers by 2030 and establishing a new City Hall developer.
The Future of Regent Street, Haymarket and Piccadilly Circus
Westminster City Council and The Crown Estate are working together to reimagine the public realm of Regent Street, Haymarket, and Piccadilly Circus.
This site on the Commonplace platform contains tools to get involved, and a survey that members may wish to complete.
Civil Society Covenant
On 21 July, Lisa Nandy, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, launched the Civil Society Covenant. By civil society, the document is intended to cover “charities, not-for-profit organisations, volunteer-led initiatives, social enterprises, campaign groups and grass roots organisations”. In her introduction, Nandy states that:
“We believe civil society has a powerful voice that must be heard in the rooms where decisions are made and that it is only by working together that we will build a self-confident nation where everybody’s contribution is seen [more…]
Election reforms
A new elections strategy paper was published by the Government in July.
It includes:
- 16 and 17 year olds being able to vote in the next general election
- Voter ID to be extended to include bank cards
- UK driving licence as voter ID when they become available in digital format
- Tougher new rules to guard against foreign political interference and abuse of campaigners
- Checks on donations over £500
- Fines of up to £500,000 on those who breach political finance rules
HS2 update
The Government has issued its second High Speed Two (HS2) update to Parliament.
The tunnel for HS2 into Oak Oak Common station was completed at the end of June 2025.
There are integrated plans for the Euston station campus alongside significant levels of local development, now the tunnel into there for HS2 will commence in Spring 2026. A Euston Delivery Company will be set up.
The Government is considering funding by private finance, development receipts, and potential local contributions such as tax increment financing, with a degree [more…]
Open Spaces Society 160th anniversary
The Open Spaces Society was founded in 1865 and has played a part in many victories since then in saving commons, green spaces, and public paths for all to enjoy. They offer help when any of those are under threat.
The successes in which they have been involved include Hampstead Heath, Wandsworth Common, Wimbledon Common, Clapham Common and others on their website here.
Planning Committees
The London Forum strongly opposes the Government’s proposals, which would forbid planning committees from considering any planning application that the Government defines as ‘minor’ or ‘technical in nature’.
Most such developments are already determined by officers under local schemes of delegation. But the Government’s proposals will allow for no exceptions. Even where small developments raise important issues relating to listed buildings or parks, or harm to conservation areas (which are not even mentioned in the proposals), decisions will be made in private by officers, rather than in public by [more…]