How to petition Parliament
There has been a relaunch of Parliament’s e-petitions website, with a refreshed design and improved functionality to make it easier to find, sign and start petitions. The updated site includes improved accessibility, and enhanced search tools. The changes follow user feedback and aim to provide a smoother experience. Petitions are one way the public can raise issues with the UK Government and Parliament. Petitions that receive 10,000 signatures receive a Government response, and those that reach 100,000 are considered for debate by the Petitions Committee.
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HS2 Reset
The High Speed 2 railway has had numerous resets yet it clings on to its existence albeit in a truncated form. The latest announcement by the Secretary of State for Transport followed the publication of the Lovegrove report into what went wrong, and some interim recommendations from the on-going review of how the project should be reset that is being conducted by HS2’s CEO, Mark Wild. The Lovegrove report is useful because it finally nails the claim repeated over may years by politicians and many of those directly [more…]
High Value Council Tax Surcharge
There is a consultation ending on 14th July 2026 on a proposed High Value Council Tax Surcharge (HVCTS) on owners of homes for each £500,000 of value above £2 million.
The Forum will respond to the consultation and we urge members to send to chair@londonforum.org.uk any comments or suggestions on points London Forum ought to make by 26 June 2026.
There are four questions in the main part of the consultation to which responses can be submitted by societies, which we urge you to do, through the online survey or [more…]
Building the Homes London needs
Centre for London has published a long report with recommendations on how London’s housing crisis could be resolved.
The announcement of their report provides details of the background to London’s housing crisis and outlines their recommendations.
The document discusses the London housing crisis, framing it as a matter of supply and demand. It explores how well current housing needs are met and reviews the effectiveness of policies aimed at improving housing availability. Solutions proposed include expanding local authorities’ capacity to manage homes and addressing demand-side inefficiencies.
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Response to New Towns Draft Programme Consultation
We’ve responded to the government’s New Towns Draft Programme Consultation.
The Forum does not support the classifying inner-urban developments or Green Belt extensions as ‘New Towns’. We argue that proposals like Chase Park/Crews Hill (Enfield) and South Barking do not possess the geographic or socioeconomic separation required to build a ‘clear and distinct identity’. Instead, we view these as vehicles designed to accelerate housing delivery while bypassing standard national Green Belt protections and planning scrutiny.
Major Concerns & Recommendations
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Green Belt [more…]
Planning for Telecoms Masts
Most of us now carry smart phones around with us all the time: they have become an essential part of modern life. For most of the time when we are out and about, using our phones depends on signals from telecoms masts. Since the first dozen masts were erected by Vodafone in 1985 to cover London and the M4 corridor, they have become ubiquitous across the country. In London alone there are estimated to be some 7,000 of the monopole masts we see on streets and the tops [more…]
More social housing
The King’s Speech included proposed legislation to increase investment in social housing.
The Social Housing Bill was introduced into the House of Lords on 14th May. It is to protect much-needed social housing stock, give affordable housing providers the clarity and confidence they need to build more social homes, and better protect tenants.
The Minister Mathew Pennycook MP wrote to Council Leaders to explain the purpose of the Bill as here.
The progress in Parliament of the Bill can be seen here.
Planning Fees consultation response
We’ve responded to the government’s consultation on planning application fees.
While the proposal to set a National Default Fee Schedule at 90% of estimated costs is a step in the right direction, we argue that it’s too blunt an instrument. London’s planning costs are significantly higher than the national average — due to heritage requirements, high-density development complexity, and staffing costs — yet the consultation lacks transparency about how the funding shortfall is distributed across local planning authorities (LPAs). For each category there should be a [more…]
Planning enforcement
The Government has issued additional Planning Practice Guidance on responding to suspected breaches of planning control including unauthorised encampments and failure to build out approved developments.
It explains what options are available to local planning authorities to tackle them, including stop notices.
Architects should rejoice that Britain’s latest new towns aren’t new towns at all
By Ben Derbyshire, chair at HTA Design, former RIBA president, and President of the London Forum.
I don’t generally play for laughs, but I got one anyway at Design West’s Arnolfini conference on Labour’s then-new housing plans when I urged the audience not to hold their breath waiting for the twelve promised new towns. We still haven’t finished the ones Richard Crossman began in the 1960s. As it turns out, we needn’t have worried because of the seven finally [more…]
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How to petition Parliament
Old Kent Road development – update
High Value Council Tax Surcharge
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How Effective is Planning Enforcement?
📆 Mon 29th June | 18:30 - 20:30
🚩 77 Cowcross Street, EC1M 6EL (map)
How can we make it work better? Planning enforcement is important. Unless it’s done effectively, the integrity of the whole planning system is put at risk. But it’s one of the most frustrating issues for civic societies and local community groups. We’ll discuss this and related issues at this Open Meeting on 29th June. Please book here ( https://www.londonforum.org.uk/events/how-effective-is-planning-enforcement#booking ) Cases typically include: Large developments that grossly fail to meet planning conditions or even submitted drawings and plans; Illegal demolitions; Unauthorised residential alterations and extensions; Additional floors…