Funding London’s priorities

Rent controls are desperately needed for private tenants. Landlords are taking 2/3 of our monthly salaries and pricing people out of their communities and further away from their workplaces. The quality of privately rented properties is poor, so much damp and poorly serviced, landlords don’t take residents concerns seriously or deal with complaints in a timely manner. It’s no wonder people get stuck in the rental sector and are unable to save to get homes of their own when we spending £2000 or more a month on rent in tiny shoeboxes. People have the right to put down roots in the city and it’s unreasonable for that to be gated to only the very wealthy.

Bring back visible policing - you just don't see police anywhere anymore patrolling or walking around, there's no deterrent for petty crimes and criminals.

Saying that, the police will have to jump through hoops to also win back lost support, what with them arresting innocent, peaceful protesters and people who send tweets...

One thing that gets overlooked constantly (and I don't know how) is London's litter problem. The city is absolutely filthy - it's disgusting. There is garbage everywhere. There needs to be a city wide improvement of bin availability, bin emptying, litter picking, waste collection, street sweeping, and so on. 

Supporting grassroots venues! More funding for music at schools and for grants. 
Better funding for healthcare so it can actually function as right now it is impossible to get any help.

Instead of covering the cost of employees at TFL by raising money from the public, just paying them fair wages in the first place from the money that is already being paid. 
lowering the council tax and making a living wage compulsory if it’s a LIVING wage. Cleaner city (not only centre and rich areas), better safety. Creating proper bike lanes. Not allowing rich investors from abroad to own multiple properties in the city so they are available for people who actually live here…

South east London is desperate for a real tube service. The extension of the Elizabeth line all the way to Dartford is the solution 

Also more housing and better support is needed for this. There needs to be controls and support around rent and service charges. When it seems like a property may possibly be affordable to actually buy, it has outrageous service charges that have no rules on how much they can increase by year on year putting people at risk of losing their property. It is not just making the houses affordable to buy, but continuing to ensure they are affordable. The same goes with renting, the market in London in just a couple of years has skyrocketed and people can’t afford this and shouldn’t be paying thousands for a small room in a shared house 

Better transport, especially in south London. 

The Bakerloo line extension is desperately needed, the new Bakerloop bus does not help solve this problem as it just gets stuck in all of the traffic. More frequent buses are needed and better investment in transport which will in turn help improve the areas and the local economy 

1. I looked very carefully at the parameters of the Mayor's budget, I was looking for a little spend on health, particularly as there are a large population of elderly people living in London who are challenged with some GP'S (not all) who pay their annual subscription as Practice members but clearly need to update their skills & knowledge, as this goes  unchecked since they first qualified 40/50 years ago, their knowledge and skills deteriorate and the population remains sick because of bad decisions which impacts the health system.
2. The seats at the front of TFL busses reserved for disabled people/expectan mothers etc, are far too low, raising the seats up higher would be much more beneficial/ user friendly. I would say every borough is serviced by a good amount of busses, the problem starts when all 3 busses have the same schedule and arrive at the same stop at the same time. This is not effective if people going to work or appointments during peak hours are waiting 10 minutes or more for a bus that's already packed and are left missing train connections.
3. I think I've mentioned this before, the system of policing needs to be more efficient and Met led (I'm speaking about Sir Mark's team) in order to be more effective. "Policing" where every other agency and support teams make up and implement their own strategies is not working, there needs to be a rethink on how best to move forward with one plan and one lead group.

I’m very tired of things like the arts, sports, and culture being the first thing on the chopping block when money gets tight. If London has no investment in the abundance of creativity and cultural diversity within its bounds, then what are we even doing? There’s no point in any of this if things like public art, museums, sports clubs, community centres, charities, workshops, residencies/apprenticeships, community gardens, etc., aren’t available and properly funded. Community hubs need to be a priority again. This is how over time we deal with the wider issue of the far right gaining popularity - creating more spaces for people to meet and understand each other.

Providing affordable housing feels crucial to helping London to thrive. Many workers on low paid jobs are being pushed out of the city, despite us needing these workers for London. More affordable housing will also mean that people have more of a disposable income to spend in London’s restaurants, shops, bars etc.  

We need to tackle empty properties before building on London’s green spaces. It’s not ok that there are 38,000 long term empty homes. Let’s get them lived in! I am also disappointed that Bexley council have their own property company which have developments planned that include zero affordable homes. This should not be happening.

I feel improving public transport, especially in outer boroughs, will help to with reducing emissions. I’m not in favour of encouraging electric cars as they just create new environmental issues. Instead encouraging people to use public transport, walk or cycle benefits everyone, including car drivers with less traffic on the roads. In my borough a 10 car minute journey can take 40 on public transport. 

 

More pedestrianisation. More safe bike paths.  Less car parking. Fewer private motor cars. 

Safety First: The One Key That Unlocks Affordable Homes, Stronger Economy and Cleaner Air

London can only become fairer, safer and greener if we tackle the real root cause: crime, especially petty crime. Everything else – housing, cost of living, economic growth and even clean air – flows from getting this right.

A city where people feel safe at night attracts businesses, tourists and investment. Shops stay open later, new jobs appear, wages rise. When Londoners earn more, they can cover rising costs and even afford private rents or mortgages without endless subsidies. A wealthier city also generates the tax revenue needed to expand the Tube, electrify buses, plant trees and finally clean our toxic air.

The urgent starting point is petty crime. The famous Broken Windows Theory, backed by decades of evidence, shows that tolerating small disorder – graffiti, fare-dodging, aggressive begging, vandalism, gangs, phone snatching – signals that “no one cares”, inviting serious crime. Crack down early and firmly, and the spiral reverses.

New York proved it works. Under Mayor Bloomberg (2002-2013), rigorous enforcement of minor offences drove overall crime down nearly 60 %. Times Square went from no-go zone to global icon, property values soared, unemployment fell, and the city’s budget moved into surplus – money later spent on Citi Bike, Hudson River parks and drastic air-quality improvements.

London does not need to copy every New York tactic, but we must copy the principle: stop ignoring broken windows. More visible, community-rooted policing, swift sanctions for low-level offending, and proper supervision of policemen will rebuild trust and cut crime fast.

Only a safer London will become a richer London. Only a richer London can deliver truly affordable homes and truly green streets for everyone.

Safety is not just one priority among many – it is the foundation for all the others.

London authorities need to wake up to dealing with drugs and drug related crimes, like cannabis induced psychotic ones. We don't want to end up like some American cities. I recognise this is not easy but tolerance is becoming negligence when comparing lack of enforcement where harmful cannabis is involved compared to the controls around alcohol and tobacco.

5G service needs to be expanded both in the tube and around the city in general. There are way too many areas that have no service. Additionally every street should be lined with trees to help cool the city during the summer and improve air quality. Not enough is being done to facilitate the planting of mature trees. Most new trees being planted are small and not robost.

I haven’t seen this in the survey but I think a top priority must be expanding the 5G network for the tube lines. It is very unfortunate that a major developed metropolis like London lacks this in many stations - whereas most cities anywhere in the world has this nowadays. I am sure this will boost productivity as well as life quality.

The transport is very expensive. People bunk the trains because they can’t afford to pay for the service to get to their jobs. On top of that, the trains are often with issues (having delays or being completely suspended). So we pay a lot to take the tube for it to not even work properly.

Survey is far too general.

For examples: 

1. Transport for central & north London is generally excellent whereas south of the river and some outer boroughs is less so.

2. In north London there are plenty of cycle lanes to the detriment of pedestrians. 

3. Some areas have good park & play facilities, others not.

It would have been better to have different surveys for different regions of London.