The Mayor of London and London Councils have issued a new Growth Plan for London, the aim of which is to act as a blueprint for turbocharging productivity in the capital.

The plan sets out London’s 10-year ambition for growth through investment in key priorities from housing and infrastructure to skills and transport. Supporting economic growth through investment in building new homes and infrastructure is important to ensure the sustained growth of the city.

The plan is an early indication of the broad direction of travel for the next London Plan and Infrastructure Plan. 

Consultation on the new London Plan is expected this spring.

Key Points: 

1. Increased support for businesses of all sizes.
2. Capitalise on London’s growth within the innovation sector, and push for the city to become a leader in technology and scientific research and innovation. 
3. Investment in housing and infrastructure delivery, with particular focus on delivering major transport infrastructure projects such as the proposed DLR and Bakerloo Line extensions, and Crossrail 2. 
4. Investment in projects to revitalise London’s Town Centres, focussing on reducing retail vacancy, increasing footfall and enhancing the nighttime economy. 
5. Accelerate progress towards achieving London’s net zero target for 2030.

Backing Businesses 

The plan aims to grow productivity within London’s businesses and back them to scale up and export through a number of initiatives including: 

• the creation of a Business Support Strategy; 
• launch of a new London Tech and Inclusive Growth fund; and accelerate work to make it easier for SMEs to win contracts from London’s public sector organisations. 

Providing support to SMEs and start-ups will not only contribute to the plan’s ambition to drive innovation in the capital but will also contribute to the revitalisation of London’s town centres. 

The plan focuses on the development of innovation corridors:

• West Tech Corridor (White City to Heathrow)
• UK Innovation Corridor (London to Cambridge)
• Thames Estuary (London to Essex / Kent). 

The plan also identifies initial growth clusters for the following key sectors: 

• Financial, professional and business services and technology (e.g. City Centre, Canary Wharf and regionally significant office clusters such as Angel, Hammersmith, Sutton and Croydon). 
• Creative industries including creative technologies (e.g. West End, South Bank, Battersea, Smithfield, East Bank - Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the Thames Estuary). 
• Experiences (e.g. culture, leisure, hospitality, retail and events)

Currently, London’s growth clusters are relatively informal, but it is expected that a more formalised framework that defines growth clusters will be identified in the revised London Plan, presenting further opportunities for stakeholders to promote sites and growth cluster areas through the Local Plan consultation. 

Delivering housing, transport and infrastructure 

The plan focuses on investing in housing and infrastructure to support growth, inclusion, and tackle the climate emergency. 

Building genuinely affordable homes remains the priority. The plan acknowledges that transport extensions and infrastructure upgrades are essential to unlocking housing at scale and supporting new growth clusters. In turn, this will help support the regeneration of town centres in the locality of new major transport infrastructure. 

The plan prioritises major transport infrastructure projects that will unlock the delivery of circa 250,000 homes including DLR extension, Bakerloo Line extension, West London Orbital and Crossrail 2. 

The Plan acknowledges that wider infrastructure improvements will be required to support the delivery of homes and improved vitality of the city. Short-term action is required to speed up electricity grid connections for major projects and further steps need to be taken to support the viability of housebuilding in the short term within the current London Plan and Affordable Homes (AHP) frameworks. 

Strategic powers such as compulsory purchase orders, development consent orders and transport and works act orders must be utilised across the needs for such infrastructure to deliver housing, transport, and other infrastructure. 

Too often, development has been delayed in the past as individual statutory bodies bring forward their individual planning applications and CPOs. Following the introduction of the Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017, the GLA and TfL have the powers to be able to successfully implement these ambitious plans by using statutory powers to enable transport schemes and housing schemes to come forward in a single CPO. 

By deploying these powers across a range of housing and infrastructure needs, delivery will be accelerated, and funding models will be available with development itself meeting the costs of infrastructure needs and economic growth secured. Transforming the employment market and encouraging workforce migration to London will only be attractive if housing and infrastructure support this growth.

We believe that the use of statutory powers across a range of infrastructure needs is required to unlock housing delivery and ensure sustained growth in these local areas and across the city.

Local Places 

The plan emphasises creating thriving “Local Places”, suggesting a focus on enhancing the appeal and functionality of town centres. Particular attention is given to: 

• the role of quality public spaces; 
• the importance of reducing retail vacancy and repurposing empty units; #
• improving the perception of safety to boost footfall and activity in town centres; and 
• the importance of preserving and enhancing the nighttime economy across London. 

Within a year, a new High Streets and Places Fund of £20m will be set up for boroughs to invest in improving local areas. 

The Mayor of London and London Councils will explore the feasibility of managing empty units on behalf of local authorities and other landlords, bringing them back into use for local businesses or community uses. The High Street Rental Auctions Powers, that were introduced by the Government in December 2024, will likely play an important role in bringing such a scheme forward. 

The Plan encourages the creation of more Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) to invest alongside local authorities in local areas.

Delivery

The plan emphasis that the delivery of its ambitions is dependent on renewed partnerships with the UK and local governments. A key focus of the partnership with the UK government is to increase the ‘freedom’ of London with more powers to push forward growth, including wider powers for Mayoral Development Corporations, stronger powers of land assembly and compulsory purchase.

A Growth Mission Board will be setup to oversee the delivery of the plan, including representatives from public and private sectors. The Board will be chaired jointly by the Greater London Authority and London Councils.

Further detail on the Board and governmental partnerships is needed to fully understand how ambitions of the plan will be delivered. 

Summary

We will continue to monitor the implementation and impacts of the Growth Plan’s actions, working with developers, local authorities, and landowners to understand how they are affected, identify opportunities for growth and how solutions to constraints can be reached. 

If you have any queries in the meantime, please get in touch with our team below.