London’s 33 borough councils have called for a genuinely collaborative approach to the development of the new London Plan, warning that the strategic document must be grounded in the practicalities of local delivery if it is to succeed in addressing the capital’s housing and infrastructure needs.
The response came as the Mayor of London launched the draft London Plan consultation on 16 July 2026 — a process that will shape planning policy across the capital for years to come. The London Plan is a statutory spatial development strategy that sets out policies on housing, transport, the environment, and economic development for Greater London, and borough councils are legally required to align their own local plans with it.
Mayor Jason Perry, London Councils’ Executive Member for Planning, Infrastructure and Regeneration, said the process must involve boroughs at every stage. “The development of the London Plan must be a collaborative process with boroughs closely involved in shaping policies that are effective and deliverable locally,” he said.
Boroughs’ Central Role in Planning
London Councils, which acts as the collective voice of London’s 33 local authorities, pointed to the scale of the boroughs’ existing contribution to the planning system. As the local planning authorities for their areas, boroughs are responsible for preparing local plans and determining the overwhelming majority of planning applications submitted across the capital.
According to the organisation, London boroughs process more than 45,000 planning applications annually. As of 2025, they had collectively granted planning permission for more than 300,000 homes — a figure that underlines their central importance in addressing London’s acute housing shortage.
Mayor Perry said: “As local planning authorities, London boroughs are responsible for preparing local plans and determining most planning applications. This gives boroughs a key role in delivering housing, infrastructure, and growth across the capital.”
Call for Realistic Expectations
While welcoming the opportunity the consultation presents, London Councils made clear that ambitions set out in the plan must be matched by an honest assessment of the constraints boroughs face. The organisation represents a wide range of authorities — from the densely built inner-London boroughs to those on the outer edges of the capital — each with differing land availability, infrastructure capacity, and local priorities.
“We want a deliverable London Plan that recognises boroughs’ role in delivering more homes, supporting infrastructure and sustainable economic growth,” Mayor Perry said. “To be effective, the plan should be grounded in the realities of local delivery, recognising the constraints boroughs face and setting realistic and achievable expectations.”
He added that while each borough would respond individually to the consultation based on its own circumstances, London Councils would use the process to articulate their shared interests as a collective body.
Background and Wider Context
The London Plan is one of the most significant planning documents in England, setting a framework that governs development across an area of more than eight million people. Previous editions have been a source of considerable tension between the Mayor of London, central government, and individual boroughs — particularly over housing targets, which have repeatedly proved difficult to meet in full.
London faces one of the most severe housing crises of any city in the UK, with demand consistently outstripping supply for decades. The Government has placed significant pressure on local authorities to accelerate housebuilding, and the new London Plan is expected to reflect those ambitions. However, planners and local government representatives have long argued that top-down targets are of limited use without adequate funding for infrastructure, affordable land, and planning capacity at borough level.
The launch of the draft plan opens a formal consultation period during which boroughs, residents, businesses, and other stakeholders can submit their views. London Councils’ response signals that the organisation will seek to ensure borough perspectives are central to any final version of the document.
