Press Releases

• British Property Federation argues that the future London Plan needs to return to providing a strategic spatial plan for London.
• Including an equal focus on delivering economic growth and new homes to create sustainable communities.
• Plus, a greater focus given on a broader range of housing models to aid delivery, including Build-to-Rent, Co-Living and Purpose-Built Student Accommodation.

The British Property Federation (‘BPF’), argues that the future London Plan, the overarching planning document that is used to guide development within London, needs to return to providing a strategic framework for the capital with an equal focus on delivering economic growth and jobs as building the new homes the city so desperately needs.

The call is part of the BPF’s response to the Mayor of London’s 'Towards a New London Plan' consultation which comes at a pivotal moment for the capital as it faces the pressures of the wider macro-economic picture, viability challenges, convoluted planning processes and significant regulatory delays at the Building Safety Regulator, which are all affecting development delivery.

This is being compounded by the current London Plan, which is viewed by many as being too detailed and acting as a burdensome development management document at a time when greater flexibility and pragmatism are required to unlock development and progress stalling sites.

With housing delivery being a key challenge for London, as well as calling for the future London Plan to return to providing a strategic framework for the capital, the BPF believes that it represents an opportunity to support a more diverse range of housing. This includes Build-to-Rent, Co-Living, and Purpose-Built Student Accommodation, who can provide homes at pace and scale, along with a broad range of affordable options to support economic growth.

As part of this, the BPF also believes that there is strong role for the government and public bodies to play in unlocking greater levels of private sector investment within the capital through increased funding in affordable housing, infrastructure and utilities for London following the Spending Review.

Sam Bensted, Assistant Director (Planning & Development), British Property Federation, comments:

“What we need to see within London is the return of a genuinely strategic overarching plan to guide the city’s growth, rather than an overly prescriptive document which is increasingly unable to deal with many of the complex development challenges the capital faces. Within this draft we can start to see a return to that, which is most welcome. In addition to increased flexibility and pragmatism, the future London Plan also needs to have strong focus on planning for both economic growth and housing delivery. Without this dual focus, the London Plan will not create the sustainable communities spatial planning is meant to promote.”