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Planning appeals accelerated
More planning appeals that are decided via written representations will be processed faster under a new, simplified set of Government regulations. Only evidence put before the local planning authority during the application process will be accepted. Details of the changes and the effect on appellants, LPAs and interested parties are here.
The lawyer Simon Ricketts has commented on the revised procedure:
“If this results in a crisper appeal process, without any loss of quality, there is much to like here, although care will be needed:
- This makes it all [more…]
Flooding and Surface Water Strategy
A ‘Flood Ready London Partnership‘ of the Environment Agency, London Councils, London Fire Brigade, Mayor of London, Thames Water and TfL, supported by the Thames Regional Flood and Coastal Committee has developed a London Surface Water Strategy.
The London Climate Resilience Review warned that London is under prepared for the impacts of climate change. The Environment Agency’s National Flood Risk Assessment highlights that almost 320,000 properties in London are at high risk of surface water flooding.
Design Review Panels
Urban Design Learning has published a Code of Conduct for Design Review Panels.
It is based on 110 responses to their survey of local authorities across the country, drawing on their experience of such panels and their views on what could help build trust in them and ensure design review advice is trusted, professional and consistent.
Communities and local authorities could check if their Design Review Panel meets this Code of Conduct.
Tube fares to increase
There will be annual above-inflation fare increases in London until 2029 as a result of a direction in a letter by the Transport Secretary to the Mayor.
Sir Sadiq Khan has been told that Transport for London fares should rise by the RPI rate of inflation – currently 4.3 per cent – plus one per cent in each of the next four years.
The Government will be closely monitoring how TfL uses the grant it received in the 2025 Spending Review.
It is possible that the introduction of new Piccadilly [more…]
Response to ‘Towards a new London Plan’
We’ve formally responded to the consultation on ‘Towards a new London Plan’, which closed yesterday evening, following on from the presentation by the Deputy Mayor, Jules Pipe, at London Forum’s event on 13th May.
We used some AI tools to help summarise our answers to the long set of questions in a readable format, with the detailed summary now held in our ‘What we’ve said’ archive 
here.
A shorter summary can be found below:
Section 1: [more…]
Assembly questions for next London Plan
The London Assembly Planning and Regeneration Committee put questions on ‘Towards the next the London Plan’ on 9th June 2025 to two sets of guests.
The transcripts here and here of the discussions indicate what the Assembly may take into account in their scrutiny of London Plan Team work in preparing the 2026 draft replacement London Plan which will be consulted upon.
Comments by London Forum’s members on what was said are welcome, as there are likely to be variations across London on the points made by the [more…]
Chewing gum stains
Keep Britain Tidy has allocated grants for local authorities in 2025 for cleaning chewing gum from pavements, as here. That website shows which Councils have received funding over the last four years. Most London boroughs have benefited, some of them two or three times. Residents will be the best judge of how effectively the money has been spent.
New flight paths
The Government is redesigning ‘skyways’ to allow planes to climb quicker during take-off and descend more smoothly, reducing noise and air pollution for residents who live along flight routes. It can also reduce aviation fuel consumption, emissions and flight times. Details are here.
Homeless households
The Government is failing to tackle homelessness according to a cross-party Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Committee which had issued a set of recommendations in April, as on their website here.
The committee criticised in their latest report the response they received from the Government on 29th May. Florence Eshalomi MP, chair of the committee said “It is disappointing the Government is willing only to commit to ‘later this year’ for publication of their strategy. The Committee’s recommendation for the Government to provide an update on the work [more…]
Spending Review
Matthew Pennycook MP, MHCLG Minister, wrote to social housing providers about £39 billion in the Spring Statement 2025 for a successor to the Affordable Homes Programme over 10 years of starts from 2026-27. It prioritises social rent homes and funds affordable rent and shared ownership.
Sadiq Khan issued a statement regretting the Spending Review had no funding for new London transport infrastructure to support development. He wrote that without it “We will not be able to build the numbers of new affordable homes Londoners need.” and “The way [more…]
S.106 agreements
Simon Ricketts, a partner in TownLegal, has published an article on the time taken to complete agreements on community investment by S.106 before development permission is granted. He points to a Home Builders Federation (HBF) report that the timescale was over 500 days in 2024-25. In that year, 45% of LPAs had agreements finalised that had taken over 1,000 days to complete.
The HBF makes five recommendations for improving the situation.
Simon Ricketts concludes in his blog that it is now substantially quicker to secure a decision by [more…]
High Street Rental Auctions
Councils are empowered to take action where landlords have not taken sufficient steps to rent property by auctioning off leases on premises that have been vacant for more than a year and granting local businesses and community groups the ‘right to rent’ empty commercial lots at market prices.
The Government has updated guidance on the way auctions should be conducted, as here.