London Plan consultation on 558,000 homes closes 15 October, five sessions left

The Greater London Authority is holding five more free public sessions on the draft London Plan before consultation closes at 5pm on Thursday 15 October. The GLA's press release states: "The draft London Plan identifies how London could deliver as many as 558,000 homes by 2037."

Three of the five are online drop-ins this month. The GLA's listing gives 18 August, 4pm to 5pm, covering a greener, healthier and resilient capital, Metropolitan Open Land and social infrastructure.

The listing gives 26 August, 10am to 11am, on housing and neighbourhoods, sustainable transport and access. It gives 27 August, 10am to 11am, on design, heritage, tall buildings, public realm and safety.

Each drop-in runs on Microsoft Teams and takes registration in advance. The listing states that people can submit questions when they register.

Only one session is in person. The GLA lists it for Tuesday 22 September, 10am to 1pm, at City Hall, Kamal Chunchie Way, E16 1ZE. It is free, spaces are limited, registration goes through Eventbrite, and the listing states: "This event will not be recorded."

The last date is Thursday 24 September, 3.30pm to 5pm, online and free. That listing states the session carries British Sign Language interpretation, and warns that "your name may be visible to others when you post a comment" in the Teams chat.

The GLA's events calendar lists no further consultation sessions after 24 September, three weeks before the deadline.

City Hall published the draft plan on 16 July and opened a consultation running to 15 October. Its release states: "At nearly half the length of the 2021 plan, the new draft London Plan is streamlined to reduce the burden on developers while retaining vital quality standards."

On affordable housing, the release states the long-term strategic target remains 50 per cent. It also states the draft moves the threshold back to 35 per cent from 2028 for over a third of boroughs, with varying thresholds elsewhere.

The release gives no annual housing figure and no borough-by-borough split of the 558,000 homes. The draft plan itself could not be consulted for this story.

Some chances to take part have gone. The GLA's page for an accessible online session on 22 July is marked "This event is in the past", and the drop-ins on 11 and 13 August have also passed.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: "London's success depends on how well we plan for growth and the choices we make about the kind of city we want to be."

After the consultation closes, the release states that an independent examination in public follows, with final adoption expected in early 2028.