A hypothetical worked example that shows why London’s brownfield pipeline has three sequential problems — and why fixing one without the others changes nothing Meet David and Sarah. They have run Meridian Autos, a busy car repair workshop in south-east London, for fifteen years. The site is roughly half an acre. It is an eight-minute […]
What the planning blogosphere’s best minds think is coming — and where I land on all this good stuff On Tuesday evening I was thrilled to join the celebration of Simon Ricketts’ ten-year anniversary of Simonicity — one of the most consistently authoritative planning law blogs in the country. Simon gathered some of the sector’s
The Aylesham Centre decision and the system that has learned to celebrate delivering nothing “This is a great day for Peckham.” That was Southwark Council, on 18 May 2026, responding to the Planning Inspectorate’s decision to refuse Berkeley Homes’ appeal for the redevelopment of the Aylesham Centre on Rye Lane. Zero homes. Zero affordable housing.
80% of us live in the suburbs. Whilst often the debate around density is characterised around taller and taller buildings, it is within our suburbs that great opportunities can be found for delivering the 1.5m extra homes we need. We will soon have a revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). This urges us to ‘densify
There was much relief when a ceasefire of sorts was announced earlier this week. But it doesn’t take a career in the Services to see that this conflict is not resolving cleanly for the United States and for the world. Initiated with unclear objectives, the US campaign has burned through significant resources targeting AI-identified assets—some
On Monday morning President Trump published on his Truth Social platform “I AM PLEASE TO REPORT THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE COUNTRY OF IRAN, HAVE HAD, OVER THE LAST TWO DAYS, VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. BASED ON THE
A functioning housing ladder is critical to our towns, cities and society. It means people can move in and move on when the time is right. Yet we all know the ladder in Britain has plenty of rungs missing. That absence puts pressure on society in multiple ways. People stay in homes that no longer
One of the persistent assumptions in the UK planning debate is that viability can be stabilised through tighter rules. Cap developer profits. Standardise appraisal assumptions. Limit flexibility. The logic is straightforward: if the planning system can constrain returns, it can maximise public value. In theory, perhaps. In practice, the housing market does not operate in
London needs an anthem. Something properly earwig-y that just sticks with you all day. In a world of nano-attention spans and forever scrolling on social media, London’s brand perception is a kaleidoscope of petty theft, fat cat business leaders, feral teenagers, political bickering, overcrowded tubes, and sometimes ostentatious global wealth. It is an embellishment and
Over the past year I’ve had the opportunity to spend time in some of the world’s most active development markets — Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh in the Middle East, followed by Brisbane and Sydney in Australia. These visits were not about site tours or individual projects, but about understanding how different systems think about