Or the bits relevant to planning, anyway
Femy Amin (Animal Welfare Party – People, Animals, Environment)
“streamlined planning processes, ensuring that infrastructure planning aligns with the need for affordable housing delivery, prioritising investment in areas where it will have the greatest impact on increasing housing supply.”
Count Binface (Count Binface for Mayor of London)
No planning mention
Rob Blackie (Liberal Democrat)
“Pressuring the government for ambitious homebuilding targets – and to provide funding and support to deliver significantly more homes than in the current London plan. We will reopen the London Plan and work to ensure that London boroughs have local plans which are compatible with it. We will look to simplify the conditions of the London Plan to make it easier to accelerate home building.”
Natalie Campbell (Independent)
Build more build-to-rents.
Reclassify green belt sites that are not green, and put them back in the planning process.
Howard Cox (Reform UK – London Deserves Better)
No planning mention
Amy Gallagher (Social Democratic Party)
“The SDP will use the power of the Mayor’s Office, master planning powers, and The London Plan to prioritise the building of housing to help solve the housing crisis that the political class, left and right, have collectively failed to address over the past 30 years. Our plan will transform London’s failing, neglected, and underfunded infrastructure into that of a smart, green, resilient, tech-focused, democratically audited 24-hour city ready for the 21st century.”
Intensification – We need to intensify land use in the outer London boroughs where the population density is one-third that of central London, especially close to Tube stations and transport nodes. This can be done artfully by putting the public realm at the heart of every new scheme – some of the nicest and densest places in London would not get planning permission today but people love them!
Renew the London Plan – Many senior planners at the GLA will tell you that the current London Plan is just a wish list – it is not strategic and it needs to be re-written with increased housing provision as one of its central objectives
City Planning – Building Better, Building Beautiful”
Zoe Garbett (The Green Party)
“Supporting the introduction of protective measures for individual key species in the new London Plan to mitigate extinction rates.”
“We will oppose plans to build new incinerators in London and refuse permission for new combined heat and power installations.”
“We will ensure all new planning designs require ecologically- sustainable stormwater and flooding prevention elements.”
“A Green Mayor will use the next London Plan to ensure we work to the highest climate and environmental standards. We will:
- Write new planning rules for London to make it easier to apply to work on insulation and retrofit projects for whole streets at once.
- Introduce planning policies to ensure all new developments assess climate and ecology impacts and include green spaces with habitats for threatened species and pollinators, to achieve net biodiversity gains.
- Designate areas as ‘park opportunity sites’ in the London Plan, similar to the current opportunity sites for housing, economic development, and add ‘park’ to this list for areas which need green space for people, biodiversity and sustainable drainage to prevent flooding.
- Develop a London Energy Plan, which accelerates our clean, renewable energy supply and work with local councils to develop Local Area Energy Plans.
- Support large scale solar deployment as part of multi- functional land use and remove the red-tape to installing solar on older buildings or buildings in conservation areas.
- Refuse permission for new combined heat and power installations, solid fuel burning, diesel farms or fracking, and create plans to close existing units by 2030 as we shift to sustainable energy supplies.
- Ensure newbuilds are built to Passivhaus standards.
- Change planning rules to account for embodied carbon in the cost of construction.
- Support the introduction of protective measures for individual key species in the new London Plan to mitigate extinction rates.
- Map toxic landfill sites and implement bioremediation strategies for cleaning up
soil and waterways in nearby areas, as well as implementing flooding prevention.”
“The London Plan is produced every few years by the Mayor’s Office and is a key guiding document for shaping our city. A Green Mayor’s London plan will include:
- An increase of the 35 per cent ‘affordable’ housing threshold (to 50 per cent) as well as a more up-to-date definition of ‘affordable’ which reflects genuine affordability.
- Many boroughs currently start to require ‘affordable’ housing only for developments of 10 or more homes, which can incentivise artificially low numbers of homes on suitable sites. In a Green London Plan there will be no lower limit to contributions expected from developers to truly affordable housing.
- Much higher levels of truly affordable rented homes will be included in new planning policies for the Build to Rent sector.
- 10 per cent of all units to be fully wheelchair accessible and prescribe the majority
of these units to be built in the social rented sector. We will also develop a London Accessible Housing Register. - We will amend the London Plan to better control short-term lettings in London, with strict limits – including prohibition in areas of high housing need – built into lease conditions for new buildings and give more support to councils in enforcing time limits and quality of life
for surrounding residents. - The new London Plan will require developers to apply lease conditions to the homes they build which make sure these are the primary residence of the new owners.
- Protect local amenities like play parks. If amenities are demolished and there is delay we need a policy from the Mayor to get these vital spaces reinstated as a priority.”
“A Green Mayor of London will take a new approach to the Economic Development Strategy and the next London Plan, guided by the values and principles in this chapter as well as:
- Introducing new standards in planning and development to help councils deliver projects that make the best use of available space, ensuring that every new house has space to grow food, e.g., on balconies and rooftops, and in vertical and urban gardens; allowing residents access to equipment; and engaging local shops and restaurants in the supply of locally-grown food.
- Bringing evidence to bear on reinstating effective new policies, which were removed by the Government, to create exclusion zones around schools where fast food shops aren’t allowed, and allow councils to resist a saturation of fast food shops in any part of their borough.
- Defining areas of ‘emerging heritage’ that have local distinctiveness and a London-wide significance and protecting them in planning policies. This will give similar protections to conservation areas.
- Establishing a stronger, clearer agent of change principle in the London Plan.”
“We will review all existing ballot exemptions in estate developments and amend the London Plan to extend requirements to include a final say from residents as part of the decision-making process for planning policies.”
Tarun Ghulati (Independent)
No planning mention.
Susan Hall (The Conservative Party Candidate)
“I will prioritise building more family homes you can afford. These will be mostly high-density, lowrise homes, designed for families to set down roots. High-rise developments will be limited to appropriate areas that do not disrupt existing communities.
I will increase the supply of homes for rent and ownership.
The best way to tackle rising rents is to increase housing supply. As Mayor, I will work with pension funds and others to increase institutional investment in Build to Rent schemes, delivering purpose-built rented homes. For those who may currently be renting but wish to buy their own home, I will also work to increase the supply of homes for ownership, including shared ownership schemes. There are now almost 90,000 empty homes in London, a 51% increase since 2016. Homes should not be sitting empty when London has a housing crisis, so I will work with boroughs, housing associations and others to bring empty homes back into use.
The Green Belt will be fully protected.
The Green Belt around London prevents urban sprawl and acts as London’s green lungs. Sadiq Khan’s allies are threatening to develop on the Green Belt, which would be a travesty. I am listening to Londoners, and I have heard the clear opposition to building on the Green Belt. I will protect this vital landscape.
I will make it easier to build good quality homes in the right places that meet local needs, whilst protecting communities from inappropriate schemes.
I have listened to concerns about excessive red tape in the London Plan, that holds back much-needed new homes on brownfield land, and I will overhaul it. I will review planning policies that restrict housing development on surplus industrial land, especially in areas close to train stations and transport hubs. I will also allow more flexibility to provide car parking spaces in new developments, especially in areas where public transport is less available, and ensure that proper infrastructure is provided alongside new developments.
I will encourage councils to undertake estate regeneration.
They will be encouraged to renovate homes with inadequate conditions, working alongside local residents. Too many Londoners are living in homes with damp, mould, and condensation, which is completely unacceptable. Rather than ignoring the problem as Sadiq Khan has, I will listen to Londoners and work with councils to improve conditions. Rebuilding estates at modest densities could also deliver thousands of good quality new homes. I will also ensure that land owned by the GLA Group is properly audited to identify surplus land for development.
I will accelerate planning applications and clear the backlog by lending City Hall planning officers to local councils.
The volume of applications is overwhelming local councils, causing developers to question whether it is worth submitting them due to the wait times and the cost implications. I will not allow this issue to be ignored any longer. We must get London building the homes we desperately need, which is why I will provide this additional support to councils to get these backlogs cleared.”
Sadiq Khan (Labour Party)
“To unblock more new homes, I will take decisive action where needed to create new Land Assembly Zones and set up more Mayoral Development Corporations to boost overall housing supply and drive regeneration. These will deliver new sustainable communities with homes for first-time buyers as well as homes for social rent. I’ll work with a Labour government to strengthen planning so that the London Plan can go even further in supporting the delivery of the affordable housing our city needs, while unlocking economic growth and being the greenest ever plan for our city.”
“London is home to more than 600 high streets. We learned during the pandemic how intimately connected we are to local high streets, and their importance to our communities. That’s why I want to do more to protect, restore and improve them. If I’m re-elected, I will launch a support fund and set out a new vision for the future of London’s high streets, building on the work we have already done. I’ll also explore planning changes that can help breathe new life into our high streets, helping to ensure they remain a central feature of our economic and civic life.”
Andreas Michli (Independent)
“Publish an updated London Housing Strategy that prioritises:
- Encouraging high density residential development. Build upwards, not outwards
- Consulting with the boroughs to set ambitious housing targets for each local authority
- Taking a more nuanced approach to the Green Belt, whereby land containing derelict structures are identified for potential development
- Ensuring aesthetic standards, in-keeping with London’s historic building style, are adhered to by developers. Refer developments that do not conform to the Secretary of State for review”
Brian Rose (London Real Party – Transform London)
“The shortage of housing in London is a symptom of an outdated planning system and of a Mayor who has utterly failed to get a grip of the housing problem.”
“While delivering quality, affordable housing quickly is the priority, my plan will unlock potential housing projects for years to come. Some sites will be easier to develop than others, and the country’s outdated planning regulations may well slow some projects. But I am looking at this challenge with a 30-year horizon, which is somewhat unusual in mayoral politics, where the focus is so often exclusively on short-term benefits that may attract votes at the next election.”
Nick Scanlon (Britain First – No To Immigration)
No planning mention