Mark Whitehead 13 November 2019

London councils ‘fail’ to challenge inequality, campaigners say

Many London councils are failing to challenge poverty and inequality, according to campaigners.

The Town and Country Planning Association says more than half the capital's councils have no requirement in their local plan for like-for-like re-provision of affordable housing.

It says less than a third have a specific target for ‘social rent’ housing aimed at people on low incomes.

The association's report ‘London: Planning for a Just City?’ analyses local plans for the capital’s 32 boroughs, the City of London Corporation and the two mayoral development corporations.

It asks which policies address social and economic inequalities, increase social housing stock and encourage collaboration with local people.

Several councils interviewed by researchers cited centrally imposed barriers by Government and a lack of funding as factors that severely undermine local policies.

TCPA's projects and policy manager Laura Heykoop said: 'The report highlights the multiple power imbalances that exist between communities, local authorities and developers, and argues that the transformation required for the planning system to better promote equality and inclusion will require both practical shifts in planning practice and fundamental shifts in power.'

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