Government announcements
Bill Butler has been appointed by the Government as the first chair of the Local Audit Office.
The Government has made a response to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee report on housing conditions in temporary accommodation.
Councils can issue fines of up to £7,000 from 22 June 2026, if landlords are found to have serious hazards in their rented properties.
Details have been published for the Government’s plan for capital investment to transform healthcare infrastructure over the next decade.
Clarification of CIL on home extensions and build
Matthew Pennycook MP, Minister of State for Housing and Planning, wrote a letter to all local authorities on how Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) should be applied to large home extensions and self-build.
Due to procedural errors and confusion about the 2014 process, some householders have failed to obtain an exemption. The Government is to consult on amendments to the CIL Regulations to deal with the issues. It provides clarity to local authorities over their existing discretion to take action as they see appropriate in specific cases.
How Effective is Planning Enforcement? Meeting Record & Video
Last week we held a well-attended talk on the subject of Planning Enforcement, chaired by Brian Keane of PE&T, which we recorded.
Our two guest speakers were both subject matter experts, each with decades of experience: Roald Piper of Westminster, and Tim Rolt of Brent both managing their respective council’s enforcement teams. The thoroughly engaged audience enjoyed the often amusing anecdotes, and posed incisive questions in Q&A sessions following each speaker – included in the recording.
Using a transcript, we’ve created a 1000 word summary record of the meeting [more…]
The thicket of detailed standards thwarting housebuilding in London is not the answer
Ben Derbyshire asks whether it is time to rethink the section 106 system and regulatory framework for housebuilding in London in this Housing Today article
London delivered less than 6% of its target for 88,000 new homes in 2025. Some of the issues impacting delivery are completely beyond local control – interest rates, supply chain inflation, global economic uncertainty and so on.
But increasingly there are sources saying the regulatory burden on new home building is even more significant. Emergency measures (fiddling while Rome burns?) [more…]
Local Audit Reform
In December 2025 a policy paper on Local Audit Reform was published following a significant backlog of outstanding unaudited local authority accounts. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill established the Local Audit Office (LAO) to oversee and improve the system requiring local public bodies to publish independently audited accounts on time annually.
Bill Butler has been announced as preferred candidate for chair of the Local Audit Office, subject to a Parliamentary hearing.
A new consultation on preventing financial mismanagement in local government runs from [more…]
![BID's in London [image: LSE]](https://i0.wp.com/www.londonforum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/BIDs.png?resize=1024%2C738&ssl=1)
What are BIDs doing for Town Centres in Central and Outer London?
Earlier this year, London Forum organised a very interesting open meeting with members about the state of London’s High Streets and the night-time economy. One of the presenters was from a BID (Business Improvement District), highlighting their work in improving business areas in central London. That raised a question, what are BIDs doing in outer London?
Once a BID has been voted in by local businesses it is funded by a supplement to the business rates paid in the area. Of the 76 BIDs [more…]
Old Kent Road development – update
Urban Design London has issued another video on what is happening in the Old Kent Road Opportunity Area.
An update on 13th May 2026 had links to earlier videos.
In the latest one, Colin Wilson reflects on the challenges – and successes – of adding cycle lanes and a district heat network during an estate regeneration, with the additional complication and benefit of uncovering the Roman road that sits underneath the Old Kent Road.
Crystal Palace National Sports Centre Redevelopment
The GLA’s redevelopment of the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre will cut carbon emissions by 90% and eliminate fossil fuels through a £23m investment in efficiency and heat pumps. While the project sits in Bromley, it follows the GLA’s climate-focused policies rather than Bromley Council’s, which largely ignores carbon reduction and has yet to declare a climate emergency.
As Bromley consults on its local plan this summer, the public is urged to use the GLA project as a benchmark. Because councils are legally required to address climate change, [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.
![Crews Hill Station [Photo: Enfield Society]](https://i0.wp.com/www.londonforum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Crews-Hill-station-1024x614-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C614&ssl=1)
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…]
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Youth unemployment
Centre for London has published a report on London’s high youth unemployment figures. One in four young Londoners are unemployed.
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Planning agreements for medium-sized sites
The Government has launched a consultation on a set of standard planning agreements for medium-sized housing sites. The proposals are ...
Protection for Public Green Space
The Government will review the fragmented and outdated nature of current legislative protections for public recreational green spaces, assess how ...
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Planning, Environment and Transport committee meeting
📅 Thu 8th October | 14:00 - 16:00
🚩 Room B1 70 Cowcross St, EC1M 6EJ (map)