Key information
Request reference number: MGLA290323-3897
Date of response:
Summary of request
Your request
- How does the London Plan map protect local centres?
- Can you provide information regarding lost London villages?
- Why are some local centres not included on the map?
Our response
The Planning Data Map town centres layer only includes town centres that are designated in the London Plan in Annex 1. These include International, Metropolitan, Major, District and Central Activities Zone retail clusters but do not include local centres. Local centres are designated by individual boroughs and will be shown on their local plan Policies Map.
Please note that the London Plan cannot establish the specific boundaries of town centres. The power to do this lies solely with the relevant borough through their own plans and policies maps.
The relevant policy in the London Plan is Policy E9 which is available to view on line using the link above.
It is noted that not all changes of use (for example, from a shop to a home) need planning permission.
Many uses in town centres fall into Use Class E Commercial, Business and Service such as shops, cafes and restaurants, banks or offices.
These uses can often be converted to housing without needing planning permission.
We hold data about planning permissions granted for the loss of floorspace (such as shops) and information about planning permission for new retail that has been granted permission but not built yet (subject to that data having been collected by the relevant planning authority).
This data is held in the London Planning Datahub, which forms a live dataset of planning applications across London. As a live dataset, it changes hourly, so you can access it using an API meaning you can download and analyse the data, as it changes. This is available on the datahub page of the website. If you need support, we can provide some analysis at borough level, or for one of the town centres listed in the London Plan.
We cannot provide this information for a local centre because we do not have the boundaries for these (they are held by the local authority). Please provide further information if you would like us to send you this information, including the period of time you want us to look at and the geography you want us to use, for example, Greater London, a single borough, etc. Please note that this information will not include development that does not need planning permission (see information above).
You can find the London Employment Sites Database 2021 report on our website under the 'Economy' section. In particular, Table A.3 might be useful.
If you have any further questions relating to this matter, please contact us, quoting
reference MGLA90323-3897.