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Renters’ Rights Act
A new Act of Parliament protects renters from ‘no fault’ evictions and gives them the right to end tenancies with two months’ notice.
Shelter produced here advice for private renters and Pinsent Masons issued a guide for landlords here.
Renters will see further reforms to end bidding wars and to stop landlords demanding more than one month’s rent upfront. Tenants will be able also to challenge unfair rent increases and ask to keep a pet.
London Talent Strategy
The GLA published a full and an Easy-Read version of a London Inclusive Talent Strategy, as here. There is a summary of it.
• The target is increasing London’s employment rate to 80%.
• By 2035, an aim is a 20% increase in real household weekly income for the lowest-earning 20% of Londoners.
• Key metrics will include economic outcomes for learners, diversity in the workforce, and skills shortage vacancies.
There will be considerable dependencies on the way the number and types of jobs [more…]
Public Notice Portal
Information for the public about planning, construction, transport links, roadworks and licensing changes are published in the local press. To help people access the notices, the news media sector has a Public Notice Portal.
It explains the types of notices available and a postcode can be entered to display their locations on a map. Clicking on them provides details. The portal offers customisable notifications for users who sign up.
Part pedestrianisation of Oxford Street
City Hall has appointed Hawkins Brown and East as lead architects for a plan to pedestrianise part of Oxford Street. Publica, the urban design practice, and landscape practices Aspect Studio and J&L Gibbons also have roles on the project.
East will work on the first phase which would pedestrianise an almost mile-long stretch of road between Orchard Street in the west, across Oxford Circus and through to Great Portland Street in the east. Further details of this part of the scheme will be in a public consultation later this year.
Hawkins [more…]
![Mogden sewage works [photo : eight2O]](https://i0.wp.com/www.londonforum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mogden-e1761696948580.jpg?fit=595%2C649&ssl=1)
Failures of Thames Water
In the Environment Agency’s Environment Performance assessment (EPA) for 2024 here, Thames Water was the worst performing of the nine water and sewage companies. It had the highest number of serious pollution incidents, more than doubled since 2023.
Most incidents were from foul sewers and self-reporting from this asset type is far too low (73%). Of serious pollution incidents 63% (47 out of 75) were self-reported by the water companies, a decline from 74% in 2023.
Affordable housing 35% reduced
The Government and the Mayor aim to boost affordable housing supply by cutting the affordable housing target from 35% to 20%.
Building Design published comments on the policy. and Simon Ricketts anticipates its consultation.
Developers offering 20% affordable housing could see a temporary relief from community infrastructure levy.
The Mayor could be handed powers to ‘call in’ applications for his own determination and the GLA will consult on removing guidance that can constrain density, including dual aspect standards and cycle storage requirements.
Euston masterplan
The Government has put firms on notice for a £360m design and engineering job over five years for the programme of works at Euston station.
The appointed team will work with the Euston Delivery Company (EDC) overseeing upgrades to the existing mainline station and the development of the surrounding residential and commercial district.
The job will not include the new central London terminus for HS2, which is part of the wider Euston masterplan but is being delivered separately through a private finance partner.
Tall building proposed at Hogarth roundabout
The Old Chiswick Protection Society (OCPS), a London Forum member, is urging societies and anyone concerned about the future of Chiswick’s historic landscape to submit final objections to the Mayor on a planning application for a 10-storey residential block at 1 Burlington Lane, W4. Details were in an update on 17th September.
Submit your views to the GLA Planning Portal (P-2024-2610) here.
Historic England has formally objected to the scheme, citing harm to the setting of parks, listed buildings, conservation areas and protected views. Richmond and [more…]
Oxford Street pedestrianisation
On Sunday 21st September, Oxford Street was part closed to traffic. Themed zones featuring fashion, sport, music, food and heritage spanned Orchard Street to Oxford Circus.
The Mayor claimed it a success here but the publicity and novelty of the event were likely to result in many people attending.
TfL will consult on traffic and highways changes for pedestrianisation later in 2025.
For businesses, however, the prospect of an accelerated timeline could add to concerns about logistics and access. Bus routes remain one of the biggest challenges and retailers are [more…]
2025 Annual General Meeting
On 16th October, The London Forum held it’s 2025 AGM with two speakers, and a full house of members.
Michael Jubb, our chairman, made opening comments, and introduced the speakers: our patron, Prof. Tony Travers, and guest speaker, Leanne Tritton, chair of The London Society. Each talk was followed by a substantial Question & Answer session addressing prescient topics in depth.
We’ve annotated our AGM event page with photos and recordings of the talks and Q&A sessions, so that you can listen again, or review [more…]
![Nationally Significant Infrastructure People/Process [ Graphic: HMG ]](https://i0.wp.com/www.londonforum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Nationally-Significant-Infrastructure.jpg?fit=1197%2C732&ssl=1)
Reducing infrastructure delays
The Government has issued a news story here on “backing the builders not the blockers”, explaining it will work with the judiciary to cut the amount of time it takes for a judicial review to move through the court system for nationally critical infrastructure projects.
HM Treasury and MHCLG are concerned the delays stunt economic growth by holding back development due to lack of utilities.
Social housing
Past updates under the tag ‘Housing Delivery‘ cover lack of funding for social housing. That subject was covered by our Patron Tony Travers of the LSE and Leanne Tritton of The London Society in talks at our AGM, reported separately.
The lawyer Simon Ricketts examines stalling of building here and proposals from the APPG for London on speeding house building are here.