Funding London’s priorities

The affordable housing projects in London need serious work. They are not affordable as, non-suprisingly, external non council run businesses look how much profit they can make. A one bed flat for £1,250 (price as listed as low end of property on homes for londoners) has service charges added as well, making it closer to £1,500. This is not affordable, and this is before bills.

Single people are not accounted for in these costs, and even the advert says they are aimed at couples despite the growing number of solo renters in the city. Wages are completely skeewed by our top earners - who are in the minority.

Where are the places for those who have rented for years and paid their rent? Surveys prove their are more and more people over 40 and in to retirement who are renting having never got on the housing ladder, and although there are over 55 flats, the 15 years from 40 - 55 is becoming a time when more and more people leave this city and take their skills - and sometimes the next generation - with them. 

The mental health issues that are stemming from this situation costs us greatly as a city and social housing and rent controls are the only way to fix it.

To translate the slogans around more housing into real life, we need to get a proper and independent technical planning assessment of where, where not, how.  We cannot sensibly allow the development industry to take the lead, as their interests are not good planning, but economics.   Every Borough should have a qualified and independent Chief Planner, not as now, where unqualified staff give planning advice to Councils.   The "plans" produced by the GLA and the Boroughs are impenetrable mountains of paper which Mrs Smith of Acacia Avenue has not a hope of understanding.  We need imaginative creative planning ideas that will enthuse, not top-down instructions that carry a penalty if you don't comply. Plans shouldn't be for lawyers, but for the public. 

Secondly, achieving housing numbers without at the same time ensuring quality planning is to repeat the mistakes of the 1960's and 1970's - estates which now we are having to pull down. So setting planning standards on respecting local character, scale, privacy, daylighting, neighbour  protection, nature remediation, avoiding monoculture uses, integrating social and community facilities  etc is vital.

Thirdly, many of our town centres are struggling, losing interest, with pedestrians given the space left after vehicles.  We need more pedestrianisation schemes, deliberate re-introduction of useful activities into town centres which would encourage people to stay and USE their towns, not, as now, "shop and go".

Fourthly, the community is a vast store of knowledge about their locality, with pride and the wish to help (allright, there are the peculiars!) so we need to draw "the people" into having a role in running the towns and localities, designing the new developments, volunteering to do good works in the environment.  Pre-app involvement is a good start, although the developers still try to coral the thinking..............

Implement the licensing of pedi cabs without delay - ideally ban them altogether.  

Impose fines on cyclists who do not obey the Highway Code, riding through red lights, not adhering to the speed limits etc. Why should cyclists flaunt the rules and endanger lives??

Crack down on landlords who rent out properties that are a danger to health and safety.

This is not a question! You've shortened London bus routes like 4, 45, 171, 172 and more. Please restore 4 back to Waterloo, please restore 45 back to King's Cross, please restore 171 back to Holborn and please restore 172 back to St Paul's. And please scrap the 20 mph speed limits because it's too slow, it's like a snail

My 3 main priorities are transport and digital equity.

Transport: Proposed TFL fare raises are a massive affordability problem and present a barrier to work.

Digital equity: Many areas of central London (my street included) lack access to fibre broadband. As the UK transitions away from ADSL lines, we should make sure everyone in our capital has modern internet access.

The main focus should be safety in regards to policing on the streets, building is done on every square inch that is available in London but it seems , no priority is given to schools, doctors surgeries or clinics and NHS Dentists, so society is , in my view, neglected in London due to lack of planning and greed of councils for property sale opportunities.

My final comment is, London is not cared for with one mayor, it is too vast and complex for one authority, even the Isle of Wight has two MPS now, there has always been a north / south divide, so two mayors is not unreasonable to ask, perhaps then Londoners would receive a balanced focus and attention

His priorities are linked to politics, we who live in London require a mayor who puts all Londoners first, the financial city and tourism take care of themselves, the city generally, apart from Westminster is dirty, ill kept in regard to properties, and police presence virtually nil on the high street and social housing estates, it may well be in the mayors tenure that cycling has been promoted, however the London pedestrian has been put in an constant existence of extreme peril

Having lived in London for the last 19 years, and with the background of coming from another capital of the world, there is literally no better place. However, it is the little things that are beginning to erode the culture and generosity spirit of the Londoners. 

News of blatant robberies, broad daylight phone theft, anti-social behaviours on public transport have taken over what should be headlines of a city with creativity, love and unyielding spirit of individuality. 

I think the city would benefit greatly from being reminded of what it means to be able to feel at home for everyone and safe again. Personally, am a great believer of trees - I think the city would benefit greatly from more tree plantings, and less VAPES and betting/casino shops on the everyday highstreet!

ZIPCAR: Transport for London should incorporate the Zipcar system into the city's transport network. As it is now, not having Zipcar is a big disadvantage. 

As British people we need to be more proud to be British, to invest in fixing our country, economy, culture and lives for future generations. 

Practicing/selling religions whatever it is in the streets should not be allowed. Religion is something personal that individuals need to discover on their own terms and not buy on the streets. Relationship with God is personal. 

Housing, more energy efficient houses need to be built, places with infrastructure falling apart torn down and re-built. 

To re-build the economy the UK needs to attract investment and retain good talent. University fees should to be either lowered so people are able to pay for Uni according to their Income with Government lending the rest. This would stop people form just going to uni then never getting a job with high enough salary to repay the loan and would allow for people to have less dept. Apprenticeships should be promoted for all sectors. 

There should be better funding into education not just defence. It is so important for the population to have good education, students need to feel challenged and pushed to achieve more for they are the future.  

Immigration can be healthy when it is first legal and second controlled. Overpopulation is an actual problem. Overpopulation of the wrong kind is not good for anyone especially the NHS, communities and social housing. For a country with high debt the only way to repay it is to bring more money and investment in, build companies that bring jobs and growth not just taxing people more, in the long term high taxes won't work and will stall the ability of individuals to buy their own houses, build businesses and grow. 

There should be more investment in building tech in house not buying from outside or we will fall behind and depend on other countries too much. 

We need better leadership sorry Mayor of London but I believe your term is up after nearly a decade and London keeps getting worse so...but thanks for your time :). 

Sincerely

I don’t understand all the hate that bike lanes are getting, more cycling is making this city more liveable for everyone, from reducing emissions to reducing congestion. The reason you have issues with cyclists is because there is not enough cycling infrastructure to separate them from pedestrians and you are asking to build less? Cycling is popular and that’s a good thing even for non cyclists.

For the people being upset about the cost that isn’t covered by cyclists: it’s well understood that building bike lanes is an investment with massively positive return, £1 invested returns £6 in benefits from the above mentioned reduction in congestions to improvements in public health. (Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-case-for-active-travel-the-health-benefits )

There are many European cities where cycling is even more popular and they do so by having infrastructure that matches the demand to cycle.

Reducing the percentage of affordable homes developers are required to build will not speed up housing delivery, but will obviously reduce the number of affordable homes for those who need them.  Developers hang back on building so as to limit supply and maximise profits.  Once planning permission is granted, developing a site should start immediately.  Councils should be incentivised to build affordable homes with grants from the GLA and national government.

Its not just elderly or disabled people who will be unable to manage to walk the length of a pedestrianised Oxford St - if you are pregnant or with any temporary injury or illness - walking such a distance on a hot summer day will be difficult, if not dangerous. You risk over heating and getting stuck without cool, shade or a seat.

One major way of reducing pollution would be to ban private vehicles in most of central London. I can see no reason why privately-owned cars need to drive into central London. I would also like to see a rising scale of charges for SUVs which take up more space on the road than the average family car. They are too wide, high and long for our Georgian and Victorian streets.

The affordability of public transportation warrants attention, as it directly correlates with employment accessibility and environmental sustainability, given its role in reducing emissions. London's public transport system is notably among the most expensive globally, particularly for a city with a high reliance on public transit. The substantial portion of income commuters allocate to transportation costs discourages both consumer spending and the utilization of this environmentally conscious mode of travel.

It is time that cyclists were targeted! The highway code and other laws are meant to apply to us all. E-scooters are I believe illegal as are electrically assisted bikes that exceed 15mph. I have never yet seen a report of the users of these being prosecuted but if I happen to drive a fraction over the speed limit - flash - and I get a summons in the post.

In the last question of the survey, we're asked to rank various issues by priority -- personally, I think that if Londoners are supported by clean, low-cost transport; quality social housing; parks and youth clubs etc, then a lot of petty crime will naturally decrease.

Stop wasting money on promoting himself. Abandon all drivel about "the climate crisis" and "air pollution" and associated expenditure. Stop persecuting working people who need cars/vans and the elderly in all transport-related policy. Get real about crime and policing. Wake up to the reality that with less than 2000 respondents this sort of exercise is of no use even without its misleading questions.