MD3547 ATLAS LDN: A new planning service within the Greater London Authority

Background

1.1.    For some time, the development sector has made a consistent call for increased resources for local planning authorities (LPAs). These resources are needed to support more timely planning decisions; and to accelerate the delivery of key housing and employment sites. A lack of planning resource is frequently cited as a major contributor to delays in securing planning permission; and as a constraint on delivering London’s much-needed new homes, jobs, environmental objectives, design aspirations and wider growth priorities. Evidence from the GLA’s 2024 Place-Shaping Capacity Survey (which is undertaken every two years) shows that these challenges are widespread. The survey identifies significant resource and capability constraints across local authority place-shaping teams – these constraints are affecting their capacity to support growth and deliver high-quality outcomes.

1.2.    The Advisory Team for Large Applications (ATLAS) is a proven model. It has a strong track record of helping LPAs resolve complex planning issues and progress major development proposals. The national ATLAS unit operated between 2004 and 2017, and was part of the Homes and Communities Agency (now Homes England (HE)). On 29 August 2024, HE introduced the New Homes Accelerator programme (NHA). Its stated aim is to unblock and accelerate the delivery of housing developments that, for various reasons, have become delayed or are not progressing as quickly as they could be. In October 2024, the Minister for Housing and Planning announced a new ATLAS service within the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to help councils speed up development on large, stalled sites. 

1.3.    The GLA has established ATLAS LDN on a similar basis, to sit alongside London’s NHA, given HE’s more limited role in the capital. 

1.4.    The ATLAS LDN programme launched in January 2026, and is an integral part of the Making Best Use of Land programme’s delivery plan (approved by Mayoral Decision (MD) 3434). The ATLAS programme aims to give London’s LPAs targeted planning expertise, specialist advice and additional capacity. This will help unlock complex housing and regeneration projects; improve planning performance; and accelerate housing delivery. Support is provided across a range of planning matters including: 

•    major applications (pre-applications, FUL applications, outline applications, reserved matters)
•    strategic masterplanning
•    governance, PPA and delivery strategies
•    S106, legal obligations and conditions discharge 
•    specialist technical advice.

1.5.    There is also support for data and digital planning. The service is provided at no cost to LPAs. 

1.6.    Alongside ATLAS LDN, the GLA also launched New Homes Accelerator London (NHA LDN), the London branch of the NHA. Whilst ATLAS LDN focuses on unlocking progression through the planning system, NHA LDN works with developers, local authorities and infrastructure providers to accelerate housing delivery by resolving infrastructure, wider regulatory and delivery barriers. The programmes are complementary, providing a coordinated offer to LPAs and development partners. They are key delivery mechanisms for the Making Best Use of Land (MBUOL) delivery plan. 

1.7.    Both programmes have experienced strong demand, following the call for sites/support launched in January and February 2026. Together, they have received over 120 site submissions from boroughs and developers – translating to a pipeline of approximately 130,000 homes. To date, ATLAS LDN has provided delivery support, at pace, across a several priority sites representing approximately 23,000 homes. 

1.8.    ATLAS LDN has also administered £3 million of grant funding on behalf of the government (announced in December 2025), to support boroughs directly with planning capacity. Further details can be found here.

1.9.    Following successful engagement with MHCLG and HE, the programme has secured a three-year funding settlement of £4.5 million per year from 2026-27 to 2029-30 (totalling £13.5 million); this will allow the programme to keep expanding. Towards the end of financial year 2025-26, ATLAS LDN also received around £5 million – of which approximately £1.6 million is underspent and is carried forward. In total – combining this annual £4.5 million payment, and the £5 million received last year – the programme is expected to receive approximately £18.5 million. The three-year funding settlement from MHCLG provides a clear basis to expand the programme; increase capacity; and deliver a wider programme of initiatives alongside direct site support. The proposed spending of this funding for the purposes of this expansion is set out in section 2.
 

Objectives

2.1.    ATLAS LDN’s mission statement, below, will underpin its operation:

“ATLAS LDN’s mission is to provide coordinated planning capacity and expertise to unlock live and pipeline sites accelerating the delivery of high-quality development, while promoting good practice and place making, driving innovation, and championing the value of public sector planning.”

2.2.    This will be achieved through the following overall ATLAS LDN objectives:

•    Unblock sites and deliver masterplans: Target planning (and associated specialist support) to those sites and masterplans with greatest development capacity; and where intervention can help progress delivery within a reasonable timeframe. 
•    Speed up the process: Provide a responsive, professional and solutions-focused service, to help resolve challenges quickly and maintain momentum. 
•    Build capacity in London’s LPAs: Work across different sectors and specialisms, targeting resource where it will be most impactful; promoting good practice; and leading on a range of capacity-led programmes to support London boroughs. 
•    Provide a collaborative approach: Work with the London boroughs to increase expertise; and to promote consistent relationships with the development sector and key stakeholders. Working across organisations, ATLAS LDN will actively promote the value and importance of public-sector planning. 
•    Focus on quality of place and decision making: Promote good practice across London; help boroughs make decisions that create the right delivery conditions; and provide well-designed developments with good-quality homes for Londoners.   

2.3.    ATLAS LDN will only succeed if there are willing partners and a collaborative working environment. The service is designed to be advisory, not to replace existing roles; and to provide core services at no cost to the boroughs. For each ATLAS LDN site, a Project Engagement Plan will be prepared where agreed roles structures, milestones and outcomes are agreed. 

2.4.    The ATLAS LDN team provides impartial and independent advice that is separate to the wider GLA’s strategic planning functions. 

Funding allocation

2.5.    The annual £4.5 million funding settlement is split between a £2 million core budget and a £2.5 million capacity and capability fund.

2.6.    The £2 million core budget is broken down as follows: 

•    £1.2 million staffing costs  
•    £800k consultancy costs related to site work, staff training and associated stakeholder engagement.

2.7.    Staffing proposals have been developed to balance growth with efficiency and practicalities. The staffing structure seeks to minimise management layers; and maximise opportunities for joint working with NHA LDN. Several functions – including programme management, communications, procurement, finance, data and corporate support – will be delivered through shared arrangements across both programmes. The approach taken reflects the following principles:

•    establishing a sustainable (and scalable) organisational structure capable of supporting the programme over the current funding period
•    providing sufficient capacity to respond to demand
•    delivering the wider programme of capacity, capability and housing delivery initiatives funded by MHCLG
•    ensuring government funding is used efficiently by minimising management layers, consolidating responsibilities where appropriate; and maximising opportunities for shared working.

2.8.    The annual £2.5 million ‘capacity and capability fund’ is allocated to a wider programme of planning capacity-building, policy and system improvement initiatives. These programmes are intended to: 

•    address underlying causes of planning delays
•    strengthen capability across London boroughs
•    support the long-term resilience of the planning system 
•    strengthen the longer-term pipeline of site delivery. 

2.9.    Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) considerations will run through the programme initiatives; these will be embedded in the design, delivery and monitoring of activity.

2.10.    The proposed expanded programme and areas of programme spend are grouped into three main themes:

•    capacity and capability support
•    data, digital and AI
•    supporting quality through capability.

2.11.    These are detailed below:

•    Capacity and capability support – mainly comprising the Apprentice, Graduate and Built Environment Skills Programme (around £1.3 million annually) and the Mayoral Authorities Planning & Housing Network (£200k annually):

-    The Apprentice, Graduate and Built Environment Skills Programme will support future planning and built-environment capacity. It will help boroughs recruit and retain planners, and build longer-term planning capacity across London; it could also help accelerate progression into strategic planning roles. This could support graduates, apprentices and emerging built-environment professionals to gain experience across planning, housing, infrastructure and delivery. Alignment with existing initiatives (such as Pathways to Planning), and the Mayor’s recent announcement on the construction skills package, will be critical. A blended approach is proposed, with funding prioritising more immediate interventions to address current public sector built environment capacity pressures alongside investment in strengthening the longer term skills pipeline. 
-    The Mayoral Authorities Planning & Housing Network will establish a planning and housing network across mayoral authorities to share best practice, develop practical approaches and strengthen collaboration on housing delivery, strategic planning and planning reform.

•    Data, digital and AI: (around £250k programme funding and around £120k annually to recruit dedicated data and digital posts) – will build on existing data, digital and AI initiatives already under way across the GLA and the wider planning system. This work will help these initiatives to be applied more consistently and help to avoid duplication. The programme aims to: 

-    improve the quality and integration of planning and housing delivery data
-    develop London-wide dashboards and delivery insights
-    support evidence-based decision-making across ATLAS LDN, NHA LDN and other services. 

•    Supporting quality through capability: mainly comprising: 

-    the Town Architects programme (£130k annually) – this will provide strategic design advice and design leadership to boroughs, focusing on areas with the greatest potential for housing growth and regeneration
-    Opportunity Area Planning Framework (OAPF) support (£250k annually) – this will focus on preparing and adopting Brownfield First OAPFs
-    engagement and co-design support (£100k annually) – this will aim to test approaches to public engagement and co-design, helping build local support for growth and development on a small number of pilot projects
-    other support packages as set out in section 5. 

2.12.    There is also an underspend of around £1.6 million from 2025-26. This is largely due to most of the funding being received in December 2025. Allocation of this funding is proposed as follows:

•    £800k contingency for costs related to programme work and data/digital initiatives over the funding settlement period
•    £800k contingency for costs related to site work over the funding settlement period. 

2.13.    Approval is sought for the expanded programme initiatives set out above and summarised within the table at paragraph 5.2. Further work will be undertaken to develop the proposals in detail and delegation is sought to authorise the Assistant Director, Planning & Regeneration, to approve individual programmes, or groups of programmes, set out in this decision form that will comprise the expanded ATLAS LDN programme. Individual business cases will be prepared as appropriate, to confirm their scope, delivery arrangements, costs and anticipated outcomes. 

2.14.    Expenditure will be monitored closely. Towards the end of each financial year, a decision will be made on whether any remaining budget can be distributed to boroughs as general capacity grant funding; or whether it is needed to support future programme and case work. This will be signed off by the Senior Responsible Owner. 

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), governance and monitoring 

2.15.    Robust performance-management processes, smart KPIs and clear lines of reporting will be essential for delivery and to inform longer-term funding asks. KPIs against which ATLAS LDN can be measured will ensure that the objectives are met. This will build trust with the boroughs; provide proof of delivery; and satisfy the requirements of MHCLG and HE. 

2.16.    The proposed KPIs are summarised below. These will be monitored through a mixture of quantitative and qualitative measures, with detailed reporting and monitoring arrangements to be developed as the programme expands:

•    KPI 1: Number of residential units supported. ATLAS LDN will monitor the number of residential units associated with supported sites and masterplans helping to demonstrate the scale of planning and delivery activity being supported by the programme. This will include both a rolling measure of live sites; and an annual measure of sites where ATLAS LDN involvement has concluded or supported progress towards a key planning or delivery milestone.
•    KPI 2: Speeding up the process, resolving interventions in a timely manner and adding certainty to delivery. ATLAS LDN will monitor whether its support helps partners progress priority sites and masterplans by addressing planning, technical, governance or stakeholder issues. This may include evidence that key matters have been resolved, materially progressed or escalated and where support has helped provide greater clarity around actions, milestones, project management arrangements and delivery routes (including the use of Planning Performance Agreements, where relevant).
•    KPI 3: Increasing LPA capacity and capability through site-specific interventions. ATLAS LDN will monitor whether site-specific support has provided additional planning or other technical capacity to LPAs. This may include evidence that support has helped reduce pressure on officers, avoid duplication, reduce the need for separately commissioned advice, or support more efficient handling of planning and delivery matters.
•    KPI 4: Building longer-term planning capacity and capability across London. ATLAS LDN will monitor the contribution of wider programme activity to strengthen public-sector planning capacity and capability across London. This may include support for data and digital tools; recruitment and skills initiatives; standardisation; shared learning; and other programme-led activity intended to improve resilience, consistency and effectiveness across the planning system.
•    KPI 5: Improving stakeholder relationships and engagement. ATLAS LDN will monitor whether its involvement supports more effective engagement and collaboration between key stakeholders involved in supported sites. This may include evidence of clearer roles; agreed actions; improved communication; and examples of collaborative problem-solving between boroughs, applicants, statutory consultees, delivery partners and other stakeholders.
•    KPI 6: Supporting high-quality, sustainable and deliverable development. ATLAS LDN will monitor whether its advice and support contribute to robust, proportionate and delivery-focused planning outcomes. Where relevant, this may include evidence that support has improved the quality or clarity of planning advice; strengthened recommendations or decision-making; increased officer confidence; or helped improve design, masterplanning, placemaking or sustainability outcomes.

2.17.    In addition to the KPIs, programme governance is crucial for ensuring responsible, efficient and effective operation of the service. It will provide a framework for transparency, accountability, and a forum for strategic advice and peer review.

2.18.    The programme-governance structures set out below will operate across both ATLAS LDN and NHA LDN. The proposed governance structures are attached at Appendix 1 and include the following joint groups: 

•    External Advisory Panel – a cross public-private sector group of industry leaders and experts to meet every four months
•    BMH & MBUOL Joint Programme Board – meeting every six weeks, and providing performance updates when required
•    Internal ATLAS LDN and NHA LDN Oversight Group – fortnightly meeting to discuss priorities; agree priority sites; and carry out case work review and monitoring of KPIs
•    National ATLAS Steering Group – monthly meeting, attended by the UK’s Chief Planner, to share learning with the national programme; and align activity and monitoring of KPIs. 
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Mayor and GLA must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), including the need to:

•    eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act
•    advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not 
•    foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. 

3.2.    The protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil partnership (in respect of eliminating discrimination), race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

3.3.    Consideration of the PSED is not a one-off task. The duty must be fulfilled before taking a decision, at the time of taking a decision, and after the decision has been taken, to ensure that equalities impacts are kept under ongoing review.

3.4.    The establishment of ATLAS LDN provides an opportunity to embed EDI in the service – including within its workforce; programme delivery; future public-sector capacity initiatives; and the outcomes it helps deliver for Londoners. The programme has operated, and will continue to operate, in accordance with the GLA’s equality policies; and to deliver on the Mayor’s Equality Objectives 2022. An Equality Impact Assessment will be prepared and kept under review as the programme develops. The following measures, in particular, will be a focus:

•    Recruitment – promoting a diverse and representative workforce through inclusive, fair and accessible recruitment practices; widening candidate pools; and removing barriers to entry wherever possible. 
•    Procurement – encouraging participation from a broad range of suppliers – including small and medium-sized enterprises, and businesses owned by under-represented groups – through proportionate procurement processes, and the consideration of EDI within evaluation criteria, where appropriate. 
•    Team culture – fostering an inclusive working environment that values diversity; encourages collaboration; supports wellbeing; and promotes constructive challenge and continuous learning. 
•    Programme and site selection – embedding equality and inclusion considerations within programme prioritisation and site support where appropriate – including the delivery of affordable housing; meaningful community engagement; and the creation of accessible, inclusive neighbourhoods with high-quality public spaces and social infrastructure. 
•    Place-based support – providing planning advice that promotes inclusive design and development, helping ensure proposals respond to the needs of all Londoners by supporting accessible, safe, healthy and inclusive places. 
•    Promoting a more diverse and inclusive built environment profession – ATLAS LDN will use its programme of capacity and capability initiatives (discussed above) to promote a representative built-environment profession. This will include: 

-    investing in graduate, apprenticeship, placement and professional development programmes
-    building on initiatives such as Pathways to Planning and Design Future London
-    complementing the Mayor’s wider investment in construction and built environment skills.

3.5.    Collectively, these measures will help ensure that ATLAS LDN not only reflects the diversity of London within its workforce and partnerships, but also contributes to: 

•    creating more inclusive places
•    strengthening the resilience and diversity of the public sector planning profession
•    improving outcomes for communities across the capital.

Recruitment approach

3.6.    A key principle of the expanded ATLAS LDN programme will be to grow overall planning capacity, rather than simply redistribute existing expertise within London. Recruitment activity will therefore seek, wherever possible, to minimise impacts on borough planning services, many of which continue to experience recruitment and retention challenges. The supply of experienced planning, design and regeneration professionals remains limited, while competition across the public and private sectors is strong.

3.7.    The expanded ATLAS LDN programme will adopt a targeted recruitment strategy that attracts talent from a range of sources while supporting wider public-sector capacity. This will include exploring partnerships with organisations such as Public Practice, London Councils, BusinessLDN and other professional networks to attract experienced professionals into local government. Public Practice, for example, has an established track record of recruiting architects, urban designers and planners into the public sector; and provides access to a wider and more diverse talent pool than traditional recruitment routes.

3.8.    Alongside immediate recruitment, the expanded ATLAS LDN programme will continue to invest in the future planning workforce through graduate, placement and apprenticeship opportunities. This work will support both the long-term sustainability of the programme, and wider planning capacity and capability across London (as discussed above). 
 

4.1.    Several programme risks, and mitigating actions, are set out in the table below.

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities

4.2.    The programme supports the implementation of the London Plan, and the London Housing Strategy, by helping boroughs and development partners resolve planning barriers, improve decision-making and deliver sustainable, well-designed development. It will also support work informing future London Plan priorities through improved planning data, digital capability, best practice and innovation. Expansion of the programme will further help support these matters.

4.3.    The programme supports delivery of the Mayor’s Housing Strategy and the Making Best Use of Land programme’s delivery plan (MD3434), which. ATLAS LDN forms a core component of, helping to prioritise new and stalled development sites and secure the support required to progress them through the planning system and into delivery. Expansion of the programme will further help support these matters.

Declaration

4.4.    There are no conflicts of interest to declare from any officer involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form.

5.1.    This funding is part of the Atlas London and MHCLG emergency measures projects in the Making best use of land programme. The proposed spending is financed by a MHCLG grant that is not part of the GLA’s Integrated Settlement. The grant was not part of the Mayor’s published 2026-27 budget as the funding agreement arrived after this was finalised. All appropriate budget adjustments will be made.

5.2.    The budget and spend are outlined below:

6.1.    Under section 30 (1) of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (the GLA Act), the Mayor, acting on behalf of the GLA, has the power to do anything that he considers will further any or more of the GLA’s principal purposes, which are:

•    promoting economic development and wealth creation in Greater London
•    promoting social development in Greater London
•    promoting the improvement of the environment in Greater London.

6.2.    In deciding whether or how to exercise the general power in section 30 (1), section 30 (4) of the GLA Act requires the GLA to have regard to the effect which the proposed exercise of the power would have on:

•    the health of persons in Greater London
•    health inequalities between persons living in Greater London
•    the achievement of sustainable development in the UK
•    climate change, and the consequences of climate change.

6.3.    Where the GLA exercise the power under section 30 (1), pursuant to section 30 (5) it must do so in the way which it considers best calculated to:

•    promote improvements in the health of persons in Greater London
•    promote the reduction of health inequalities between person living in Greater London
•    contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the UK
•    contribute towards the mitigation of, or adaptation, climate change, in the UK.

6.4.    The GLA must also make arrangements with a view to securing that, in the exercise of the power in section 30 (1), there is due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people in accordance with section 33 of the GLA Act and consult with such bodies or persons as the GLA may consider appropriate in the particular case in accordance with section 32 of the GLA Act.

6.5.    Under section 34 of the GLA Act, the GLA – acting by the Mayor, the Assembly, or both jointly – may do anything that is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of any functions of the GLA exercisable by the Mayor; or, as the case may be, by the Assembly, or by both acting jointly. The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested by the Mayor concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers under section 30 and section 34 of the GLA Act. 

6.6.    Under section 38 of the GLA Act, any function exercisable by the Mayor on behalf of the GLA may also be exercised by a member of the GLA’s staff – albeit subject to any conditions that the Mayor sees fit to impose. To this end, the Mayor may make the requested delegations to Assistant Director, Planning & Regeneration (as Senior Responsible Owner for the Making Best Use of Land programme), subject to the conditions and requirements set out in this Mayoral Decision. 

6.7.    Section 31 of the GLA Act places limits on the general power and prohibits the GLA from incurring expenditure on anything that may be done by TfL, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, or the London Fire Commissioner.

6.8.    In taking the decisions requested of him, the Mayor must comply with the PSED contained in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to section three (above) of this report.

6.9.    All procurements of works, services and supplies required for the project must be procured in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code (the Code) and, where the value exceeds £150,000, in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 (the Act). Furthermore, the officers must liaise with Transport for London’s procurement and supply chain team, which will determine the detail of the procurement strategy to be adopted in accordance with the Code and the Act. Officers must ensure that appropriate contractual documentation be put in place and executed by chosen service provider/supplier and the GLA before the commencement of the attendant works, services or supplies.

6.10.    There is reference in this MD to a proposal to create additional posts on the GLA establishment. Any staffing decisions that need to be made as a result of this MD would require the  approval of the Head of Paid Service, in accordance with the GLA Head of Paid Service Staffing Protocol and Scheme of Delegation.
 

7.1.    Next steps are shown in the table below: