Shaping London’s economic future

Housing.  Remember the old maxim -- repeating the same actions expecting different results is crazy.  So far what I've heard from Labour is the same thing I heard from the Tories:  set targets for housing; make planning easier; build in the green belt.

This will not solve the problem.  1) The majority of homes are built by only 6 companies.  Why would they be willing to build so many houses so fast that prices will come down -- and so will their profits?  They are already sitting on more than 900,000 sites they've not yet built on.  And they are building fewer houses because they are not seeing the market demand. 2) If land has to be bought at a price including "hope value" (i.e., the value of the land with permission for housing vs the value of the land without such permission), it will always make building too expensive for affordable housing.  I thought Labour were going to address hope value, but if they only claim a part of the increase, it will still not be financially viable to build affordable housing.  3) We are completely schizophrenic about house prices -- homeowners go nuts if prices don't keep rising.  In short, we need a different model for building affordable housing and different organisations to do it.  And then we need more skilled workers to be able actually to ramp up the number of home completions.

I want growth but I also want green -- very disappointed to read that Labour will not necessarily oppose a 3rd runway at Heathrow.  Growing aviation is the wrong way to go.  We should stop subsidizing the airline industry for a start -- stop the VAT exemption of aviation fuel.  That would also help the country's finances.

Rent control now! My age group (20-30olds) is not benefitting from the economy AT ALL. Our wages have been squeezed for years now, we pay average of 70% of our salaries to private landlords and utility bills, we have no prospects of owning a home unless you've got some inheritance money from relatives and joined income with your partner and you can forget about it if you want to do it on your own. Tax system in this country needs to change, there is plenty of money in London and in the UK but in the hands of the wealthy. Wealth tax and public ownership of utilities is crucial to allow other groups to thrive also. 

I'd recommend everyone reads Gary Stevenson The Trading Game and especially economists working to shape London's economic future!

There needs to be a careful review of road speed limits. While 20mph is good on residential streets it should be 30mph on 'main' or 'through' routes. Also endless changes of the speed limit, even in a short distance, is very confusing - I can think of several places where the limit changes several times in a short distance for no logical reason. Fining drivers for every minor error (such as not turning right from a right turning lane, is draconian), and creating illogical road changes (ie. no left turn) and collecting vast sums in fines from drivers who fail to understand the strange rule. Money from these fines is money not spent in local businesses - and takes no account of ability to pay.

Enfield has gone steadily down hill in the thirty plus years I have been living here, with loss of quality independent shops and business and replacement with fast food outlets, mobile phone shops estate agents and shoe shops. It's a fundamentally unattractive retail environment.

Taxes are utterly ludicrous now - it's just theft at this point. We get poor/no services in return. Dealing with any form of local government is a Kafkaesque nightmare. It seems all government employees treat the public as a nuisance. Crime is ridiculous. I am a woman and in the last few years the number of times I have been harassed, hissed at, and even followed has increased massively. I have to take taxi's home after a night out for my safety which are very expensive. The Mayor is an utter berk who accuses anyone who challenges him as being "Islamophobic". He even branded people who disagreed with him on traffic issues "Nazis". Mental. He's a joke and this city has becoming completely dysfunctional. 

Working in partnership can be key in getting improvements to our High Streets. Local organisation in East Finchley have come together to create a Town team to work with the Council. Plans have been drawn up by local architects to create a new Town square. The Council are engaged but there is little investment available, Until we can get some more investment our High road could continue in steady decline. Some investment is required in the basic maintenance of street cleaning, tackling litter, fly tipping and graffiti. Increasing the population density of town centres can bring more people and spending power in but needs to address rubbish storage (not just put more bins on the street increasing  clutter) Other Council policies such as agreeing more advertising to get EV chargers on the High Road adds more clutter and creates unattractive, less accessible environments for blind and less able members of the community. Elsewhere EV chargers are placed unobtrusively underground.

Landlords are increasing rents and forcing many independent traders out of business. 

Do we need to rethink London's Edwardian Town centres? 

Green, attractive centres with spaces to dwell, for events to take place, where active travel to both get to and around with improving air quality and natural, playable spaces are provided. People will come to centres where the retail and food offer is good and the place attractive and you can meet other people.

National one-size-fits-all planning policies have had negative impacts on high streets that were fairing fairly well previously - In particular the E-class in planning has allowed the proliferation of eateries and candy chops in towns that previously had a good retail mix.  While some badly-failing high streets could benefit from this, successful ones have been made less appealing. It was entirely predictable and avoidable.  High streets need more local curation and planning control, not less 

Likewise, Permitted Development Rights oversaw the loss of a lot of viable office space - and needed a big push on article 4 directions to overcome. 

Living costs have always been astronomically high in London but since Brexit/Covid and overall global economic downturn it just got soo much worse. Paying for basic fees mortgage/rent, service charge, council tax, bills, transport is getting out of hand and it makes life miserable living in London. How can citizens contribute to the economy if there is no money to spend on sports, entertainment, culture, eating out, etc... 

Rents/Mortgages are far too high not only for housing but also for businesses. Otherwise, more people could risk to start and develop a business. A business idea which is promising elsewhere is impossible to even start in London - mainly due to rent. 

The quality of life in London gets worth by each season. 

Focus should be on increasing the standard of living for existing citizens including air quality! 
Also, ban single car journeys, make owning a car in London much more unattractive and focus on planning that puts human beings first, not cars. Less tarmac, more grit, more green. 

The cost of living makes it extremely difficult for an ordinary family to remain in and enjoy what London has to offer. I love London but without increased income or lower prices it just isn’t possible to benefit.

Making all properties future proof with the appropriate insulation to enable heat pumps to work efficiently, solar panels to prevent fuel poverty would be a good start. 

My local high street needs a massive cleanup. Gum off pavements, shop windows cleaned, shop signs improved. All quality shops have closed other than Boots but due to high levels of shoplifting they limit products on shelves and testers available. Most London high streets need cleaning!

This survey doesn’t ask the right questions. Surveys never do; they want answers to skew towards their own agenda. 
What about asking people what they think of crime, including the alarming rates of blatant shop lifting and all the knife crime, teens walking round with knives down their trousers with no fear of any authority….). These things instil fear in people and therefore affect many aspects of the economy (eg, people might not want to be out late enjoying the night time economy etc, people scared to let their teenagers go out shopping in the West End alone, etc). And transport difficulties at night - I was in Earls Court last week and couldn’t get a cab (black or Uber) home for love nor money. Had all sorts of weirdo’s trying to talk to me. Not nice. 
I was born in London and have lived here all of my life, other than Uni etc.  It is getting worse. The current Mayor is not doing much to address these issues. There won’t be the right kind of growth with these things going on. 

The growth plan needs to focus on improving the average family income of Londoners, not on the growth of total GDP in the capital.  We should not be planning for population growth, but for a better quality of life for our current population. That means better quality housing with more space, more local jobs (with less need for transportation) and higher wages.

• How do you see your future in the capital? What do you need to thrive?  

I can't afford to live here. Renting is a joke - you can be out in months. You nee to share a flat - no way to live.

• What do you like most or least about your local high street, and why? 

It's of no relevance to me. I don't go to cafes or restaurants and small shops are equally too expensive for me.

• What does a good job or good place to work look like to you? 

Job - A living wage - which means costs have to halve, because wages can't go up to match costs.  I think productivity is not helped by small shops.

Energy is too expensive thanks to all the green stuff. "Just stop whatever-they-are-targeting" -  using your car, going on holiday, going to an art gallery, watching snooker etc show its out of hand and basically anti capitalism - so business will be pushed more every year.

 Somewhere easy to get to - fo location.

• What does successful economic growth look like to you? What would make you feel like you’re benefitting from it too?  

Economic growth means a balanced economy with low costs. We have an unbalanced green agenda economy  with costs spiralling to pay for it.
It won't change the world - which will keep gong with oil until the global population crisis is "solved" but it will "trash" our economy.
I know the green agenda in the UK has mostly been about mostly reducing acid rain in Scandinavia ( which became a serious "urgent" ) not global warming, but the replacement sources of energy are not forthcoming despite decades of messing about - so we will need rationing soon  - else the poor will all start voting for oil.
I will feel like I'm benefitting when I feel safe about somewhere to live that isn't an "affordable housing" substandard shoe-box flat.
I don't quite know why you are sending money on this survey.
After all these years nothing will change and the inexorable decline of the UK will continue for "good" political reaasons.

• How do you see your future in the capital? What do you need to thrive?   I don't feel I am in London at all.  I live in ESSEX -  It is just inside the London Borough of Havering by a couple of miles.   We do not have good transport links, especially outside rush hour - no underground train service locally just C2C - 20 minutes walk away and runs every 30 minutes outside rush hour, Local busses the one that serves nearest to me runs every 20 minutes even in rush hour.  We are in the expanded ULEZ area but my children live in Essex so now have to pay to visit me - if you pay you can pollute!  Nearby there is the biggest pollutant of all 'Arnolds Field' in Launders Lane Rainham but apparently that has no affect on the air quality but cars do - what rubbish.  I wish the boundary could be moved so we were in Essex properly and not in a London Borough.  

• What do you like most or least about your local high street, and why?   Not a lot to be honest!  There are mainly take away shops, hair dressers/Barbers, nail shops and foreign shops selling African, Indian and Polish food.  Are there this amount of English shops in Polish, Indian and African high streets?  There is a Church and Library (which they are talking about closing).   No banks anymore!  Nothing to entice me to go there, I would rather drive to Lakeside or Romford.   During the day there are always groups of Men hanging around sitting on benches drinking alcohol and smoking - weed and cigarettes.  I do not go there in the evening!

   

London is now a broken society.  Nobody can lead a decent lifestyle.  The Mayor is not hearing what the public are saying.  Our communities have broken down due to multi-culturalism and wokeness.  Ordinary  people have lost all confidence in the political class, who are deaf to the voice of the people.  There is no effective policing of our streets.  It is not safe to go out at night or even during the day.  Our local government no longer delivers the services that it is paid to deliver.  Local government is full of over-paid and under-skilled people with no sense of public service.  NHS services barely reach the standards of a banana republic.  The transport infrastructure is in a complete mess.  Public transport is generally unable to cope.  Basic services like electricity, gas and water  are in crisis.  The British way of life has been trashed by incompetent politicians and trendy wokeness.  I am fearful for the next generation.  The situation is hopeless.