Selling public land is just the start: Three steps to solve London’s housing crisis WE HAVE got to the stage that, if you don’t know there’s a serious housing shortage in London, I’d assume you must be living in a cave. This shortage comes with increasingly obvious social and economic ramifications. London First recently published research showing that more than half of workers (56 per cent) have difficulties paying [...]
Why the housing crisis is fast becoming a threat to London’s businesses LONDON is a magnet for talent – there is little doubting that. But it is also a city with an underlying weakness that should be recognised as a danger to the capital’s competitiveness. That Achilles’ heel is London’s chronic housing shortage, an issue that is all too rarely framed in terms of business and competitiveness. [...]
The devolution genie is out of the bottle – and London must not be forgotten WHEN the UK government ruled out devo-max on the Scottish referendum ballot, few decried it as the strategic mistake it later turned out to be. Forced into an unexpected corner by a surge in nationalist support, the leaders of the three main UK parties promised Scotland the earth, magically transforming the No box into a [...]
Delaying Crossrail 2 would strangle London – and the private sector can help pay for it August 7, 2014 One of the most encouraging things about ministers considering an extension of Crossrail to Hertfordshire, giving commuter towns like Tring and Hemel Hempstead direct access to the City and Canary Wharf, is that it shows a commitment to long-term planning that has too often been absent in the UK. Admittedly, it’s rather late to be [...]
As politicians pledge to end the economy’s focus on London, is this counterproductive? July 8, 2014 Baroness Jo Valentine, chief executive of London First, says Yes. The problem with much of the discussion around this topic is that it assumes the capital’s success is to the detriment of other cities. London is enormously influential in putting the UK on the world stage, due to its position as a leading global hub for [...]
