Mayor of London announces the consultation on the next iteration of the London Plan
The London Plan is a strategic planning document, which provides development policies for the entire Greater London area, which each London council uses to guide their own Local Plans and to determine planning applications. The current plan was adopted in 2021, and City Hall must review the plan every 5 years.
Earlier this month London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced that the consultation for the next London Plan, with submissions open until 22nd June 2025. Khan announced the news in Greenwich on 9th May and his plans for London’s Green Belt have already been making the headlines.
The Consultation Document gives a hint of what to expect from the new plan.
The new standard method has assessed the housing need across London to need 87,992. The Document addresses the need to drastically increase housing targets across the area, aiming for housing delivery targets of 880,000 over a 10-year period – double the current target.
The document aims to set the affordable housing requirement at 35%. There is an emphasis on genuinely affordable housing products, with a desire for a greater proportion of social rent than intermediate housing (such as shared ownership) products.
The first review into London’s Green Belt is planned to identify areas which offer a poor contribution to the city, have little accessible open space, and are well linked to public transport and infrastructure.
The consultation document strives to adopt a brownfield first approach, and the approach to Green Belt seems to continue the NPPF’s approach to Grey Belt.
There is a particular focus on positioning large-scale development in strategic and sustainable Green Belt locations. And improving the ‘green’ parts of the Green Belt by improving biodiversity and public accessibility of sites, such as private golf courses.
Policies for commercial, business and town centre uses will be updated as the current London Plan was developed before the Use Class E was introduced.
The document includes examples of the current different designated ‘zones’ across London, promoting the recent successful Creative Enterprise Zones, tech cities, knowledge hubs, and Thames Estuary Production Corridor, signalling that there may be additional new zones introduced.
To take part in the consultation – follow the link to the City Hall page before the 22nd June 2025.