Shaping London’s economic future

I have lived in London for 12 years and I love it, but the housing situation will make me leave the city. I am spending most of my salary on renting a flat where I can't feel at home because at any point, I can be giving a month notice to leave. And the insane prices don't let me save to buy a home despite having a decent salary. Without the help of a rich family, it's impossible to settle in this city. We either need to legislate towards safer renting for the tenants (longer contracts and fixed prices) or make sure that all those empty properties are available for people to live in.

It is good that most units in the high street are occupied but the pavement is taken over by illegal permanent structures for restaurants, cafes, etc. With bikes, electric scooters, ordinary scooters, prams, etc. to contend with as well at 75% of the pavement taken over by the seating for the restaurants and cafes, you have to take your life in your hands to walk down the high street. Illegal parking and dangerous parking by blue badge holders on bends (parking wardens seem scared to ticket dangerous parking by them) usually on double yellow lines, adds to the danger going down the high street.

More family sized houses and more facilities like Doctors Surgery’s, good schools (with places) and lower anti social behaviour ( public urination, beggars, drunks, graffiti everywhere, shouting, loud music etc etc). 

Central London has become an awful place to live. I hate all of the following: 

Oversaturated hospitality industry with unmitigated alcohol licensing

Filthy streets, rubbish and food waste everywhere; public spaces ruined by litter

Stinking sewage vents

Nothing for poorer residents to do; even our own streets are only for those with money to spend

More AirBnBs than ever

Never ending construction and demolition work and the creep of out of hours noise 

The relentless gentrification and enshittification of perfectly nice neighbourhoods for the benefit of property developers and overseas buyers 

The dominance of motor vehicles

The Labour mayor, Sadiq Khan, is driving businesses out of London by bringing transport to a virtual standstill with his ill thought out lunatic installation of cycle lanes and LTN's. Not to mention his money grabbing ULEZ scheme expanded to outer London boroughs which has put off shoppers from further afield coming into the London areas, therefore having a negative effect on London's economy!

How can you work in a place that provides NO HOUSING???  I have been sofa surfing for 4 years now with no hope.

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

  London was a great city when I moved in (2004). Unfortunately it has become more and more commercial, and less of culture and creativity is left.

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

  There are multi-ethnic shops and restaurants. But, there is no sign of a cultural centre in West Hendon. I could've personally offer my expertise and would love to learn and spend time in a safe creative place.

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

  To be able to offer my expertise, and get a decent salary for it as a full time job, not zero hour contract...

• What does successful economic growth look like to you? What would make you feel like you’re benefitting from it too?  
  If instead of thinking about money first, the thought goes to people and their well being and education and fun. They can then become more creative and build the society and the economy!

I hate living in London. It’s dirty, overcrowded, impossible to get around with a disability and full of flats with no gardens. It’s a horrible place to raise children. The only thing I do like about London and would miss if (when) I move out would be the incredible diversity 

I am a Londoner born and bred.  I like its vibrancy and diversity.  I feel that Covid and the Congestion Charge have contributed to making the city centre less alive and have put more of a focus on local centres - the fabled "villages" that make up London.  This has its good side, but it underlines the fact that London is too big to foster much spirit of commmunity.  It is a city of stangers passing each other by.  It angers me that big money can buy up new housing developments and leave them empty while many people are homeless or living in one room.  As a disabled person I am unable to use most of the transport system.  The very size of London makes it diffiuclt to tackle ecological issues except on a very local basis.  The air quality remains poor despite the many efforts to tackle it.  Local authorities have been robbed of many of their powers - restoring them would enable each borough to thrive in its own way.  Cuts have affected local health, cultural and educational services.  Young people in particular have suffered from the lack of affordable housing (rent is ridiculously high in London) and from the shrinkage in the hospitality sector, which means there are fewer jobs.  Older people, like myself, are terrified by the social care crisis.  I am not convinced that we need yet more people in the capital.  What we do need is more resources and more creative responses to the many problems we already have. 

I also found the questions directed at people who are working or trying to work. I also found Question 12 puzzling.

I would like to say that the planning in our area is all about meeting housing targets (often not affordable or for families)and spaces for small businesses are being lost so for young people who want to variously work in trades or small manufacturing businesses they are losing that opportunity and will have to travel to find not only housing but work. I want to be able to speak up for the younger generations although I am old an decrepit! This questionnair did not give me that option.

I have just completed your questionnaire and much of didn’t really apply to me. I’m retired and I volunteer regularly with a number of organisations. I think that my voluntary contribution is important to the organisations I support, and that the opportunity to volunteer is good for my health and well being and to maintain an active social circle. It’s rare that a survey addresses people like me, of even acknowledges the contribution we make to the economy and to the success of London. Your survey was no exception. 

Living on the edge of the GLA, the mayor's imposition of ULEZ, traffic restrictions, and the generally poor nature of the offer have resulted in me avoiding my most local shopping and entertainment centres and using those outside the GLA area.

Places such as Brentwood, Chelmsford and Colchester offer much better communications, choice and facilties than anything within the GLA area.

Growing London's economy requires several things but I believe the top three are jobs, transport and housing.

Good jobs with scope for career progression. Well paid, secure jobs even at the bottom end of the scale that allow Londoners to enjoy some of their earnings rather than simply surviving.

Improved public transport.

Alt ough London has some of the best public transport in the country I believe there is always scope in improve.

There are several schemes that have been put on the back boiler in recent years such as the Bakerloo line extension, cross rail 2, sorting out HS2 at Euston, tramlink and DLR extensions all which will make the city easier to navigate and open up more opportunities for people.

Housing. I believe there is plenty of housing available in London but that it's in the wrong hands. Private landlords are stopping Londoners getting on the housing ladder by snapping up anything remotely affordable and then renting it back to Londoners who might otherwise be able to afford a mortgage if they weren't stuck in the rental trap.

And something needs to be done about many empty homes in the Capital which are used as overseas investments rather than providing homes to Londoners.

I live on the cusp of TfL Zones 2/3 only because I bought my flat nearly 40 years ago, after renting for eight years, and made a big effort to pay down the mortgage as quickly as possible. I have friends who did the same, up to the late 90s, but even with the most generous adjustment for differences in costs and prices since, none of us could even dream of moving to London now, renting for a while and then getting a foot on the property ladder – much less enjoying a London lifestyle along the way (you know, crazy mad things like going out for a drink or a meal with friends, buying theatre and concert tickets, attending special events, taking day trips out of town, even mooching around markets with genuine artisans and food-makers). I had all this planned to age in place, but I really now whether even that's possible. I appreciate that those of us in the retirement zone now had all kinds of opportunities which young people could only imagine today, but I would love to see London turning again into that world of new experiences and opportunities which we enjoyed. For openers, maybe – homes for people to live here, not just fatten non-resident property portfolios; support for independent businesses that can't openly compete with the national and multinational chains that are taking over local high streets; affordable transport for everyone. I appreciate that much of our current predicament goes back to the withdrawal of central government support for local and regional governments, but perhaps it's time to rethink that strategy, too.

Stop penalising the ability to get about as a result of the ULEZ charge and the rumoured forthcoming Pay-per-Mile. In other words, stop penalising the driver 

I agree with many here, issues are around affordable housing and activities for young people. In the outer borough's traffic, lack of cycle / active travel infrastructure, lack of buses and the unreliability of trains (caused by failures and strikes) are issues.

I would like to see (in a more successful London) more people being able to walk, bus and cycle to work / Drs / places of entertainment etc. which will increase peoples health and welbeing.

Jobs with focus on companies training young people. The companies who complain they cannot get workers do not seem to train school leavers or graduates so they cause the shortages.

More centers with parks and car control.

good local transport is essential, Hammersmith Bridge needs to open or be removed and a new bridge constructed.  Would probably save money in the longer term as well.

a local high street should be well kept, litter etc removed. 

access to green space is essential and this should be safe.

well lit streets at night to increase safety of walkers. 

essential shops with a range of prices to cater for an economically mixed population

Cost of living and renting for my kids (in their early 20s) makes London unattractive/unlivable. 

No reason for young people to visit high streets, no amenities/little is affordable,no community spaces such as youth facilities. We've lost dynamic markets where entrepreneurs could start and affordable stuff could be found. Camden market is the best example. The products there can be found all over London and from one stall to the other, so we've even homogenised these places that used to be edgy and a magnet for young people. we've sold the soul of our community hubs to tourism or large brands. If our young people can't afford to be here then high streets will continue to die.

Ability to get around in the car where it is essential, is being made harder and harder. This makes me increasingly reclusive and physical businesses  (In several high street locations I used to visit) have lost my spending because of this. Homogenised high streets are not attractive to me. Too many chain coffee shops, same retail outlets and not enough variety. 

Successful growth can only happen if we have affordable housing and modern transport systems. Young people can't thrive working from.hime, but travelling to work is very expensive on the tubes and when you're there it's expensive to eat and socialise. 

And finally. Disjointed,multi-modal transport strategies between boroughs. Stop start funding that force boroughs to do piecemeal work. London needs a single strategy for safe cycling and walking that also respects the need for many Londoners to drive. Where's the big bold idea for London? 33 fragmented schemes will simply frustrate us all further