London
London Plan policies and borough-specific rules on carbon, basements, fire safety, play space and more.
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74 articlesWind microclimate assessment for a London tower
A usable wind assessment names its test locations, states the criteria and season for each, and includes consented but unbuilt neighbours in a cumulative scenario.
Energy strategy: Be Lean, Be Clean, Be Green, Be Seen
The London energy hierarchy is four steps, and the fourth commits you to reporting metered performance for years after occupation. Here is what each stage has to evidence.
Play space on a London podium: making the deck work
Podium play space is judged on whether it functions, not on whether it measures 10 m2 per child. Here is how supervision, loading, drainage and wind shape the deck.
Housing design standards: space, aspect and dual aspect
London residential schemes are tested against the national space standard, a tighter ceiling height, a dual aspect expectation and limits on units per core. Those four together decide whether a layout works.
Fire safety and policy D12 in a London application
Policy D12 of the London Plan asks every development to meet the highest standards of fire safety and asks major schemes for a statement from a suitably qualified independent assessor. It overlaps with Planning Gateway One without replacing it.
Water consumption targets and how to reach 105 litres
The 105 litre target in London is delivered through the optional requirement in Part G of the Building Regulations, imposed by planning condition. Here is how the calculator works and which fittings actually get you there.
Industrial land: policy E7 and no net loss of capacity
London industrial land policy starts from retention, not release. Here is how the capacity test works, what intensification and co-location mean in practice, and the evidence a borough will expect before it accepts any loss.
Small sites policy and what it supports in outer London
Policy H2 gives small residential schemes in London a presumption in their favour. Knowing which category your site falls into is most of the argument.
Tall buildings and policy D9: location, design, impact
Policy D9 only supports tall buildings where the borough has identified suitable locations. The design and impact limbs decide the rest.
Carbon offset payments and the borough offset fund
A carbon offset payment covers the gap between what a London scheme achieves on site and net zero carbon. Here is how the sum is worked out and secured.
Urban Greening Factor: hitting the target score
The Urban Greening Factor is a weighted area calculation against the whole site area. On a dense site the score is decided by substrate depths and tree soil volumes settled at concept stage.
Design review panels and the weight of their advice
A design review panel advises, it does not decide. What decides the outcome is whether the panel report was tied to policy and whether you answered it.
Inclusive design statements for London schemes
An inclusive design statement follows the user through the scheme rather than listing standards. Policy D5 and D7, evacuation lifts, wayfinding and the management plan.
Waste capacity and borough apportionment in London
Policy SI 8 of the London Plan 2021 safeguards existing waste sites and apportions tonnage to each borough. Losing capacity means replacing it, measured at maximum throughput.
The Thames Policy Area and riverside development
The constraints on a Thames-side site are knowable before anyone draws a plan. River prospects, wharf safeguarding, the raised defence level and the river works licence.
Protected London squares under the 1931 Act
Planning permission does not authorise what the 1931 Act prohibits. What the schedules protect, the use and structure restriction, and the four consent regimes that overlap.
Loss of existing homes and London Plan Policy H8
Policy H8 catches demolition, change of use and amalgamation alike. Report units, floorspace and habitable rooms separately, and build the condition case on measured evidence.
Large scale purpose built shared living in London
Shared living is not C3, not C4 and not an HMO, so the permission's own wording defines it. The H16 criteria, the contribution mechanism, and what boroughs actually test on room and communal space quality.
Student accommodation and nomination agreements in London
Policy H15 makes the nomination agreement central to a purpose-built student scheme in London. What the obligation has to cover, how the affordable element is capped, and the evidence boroughs expect on need.
What replaced the London Plan density matrix
The 2016 density matrix gave applicants a cell in a table to argue inside. Policy D3 replaced it with a design-led process, which means capacity now has to be evidenced through tested options and quality checks.
Hot food takeaways and the 400 metre school distance
The London restriction on new hot food takeaways near schools is measured as a walking distance from school entrances and exits. What that catches, and the four arguments that get used.
Metropolitan Open Land and its Green Belt equivalence
Metropolitan Open Land imports Green Belt protection through London Plan Policy G3. What that means for exceptions, openness assessment and why grey belt arguments do not transfer.
Air quality neutral benchmarks in London
Air quality neutral is a two-part calculation against published building and transport benchmarks. What sits in each stream, where the inputs go wrong, and when offsetting is allowed.
Water consumption targets for London residential schemes
The 105 litre figure in Policy SI 5 is the London Plan's way of invoking the tighter Part G optional requirement, which applies only where a planning condition imposes it.
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