London Higher has submitted its response to the Mayor’s draft London Plan, which will shape how the capital grows over the coming years, including where new homes, workspaces and services go.
For the first time, the draft Plan sets a figure for student housing in every London borough. This is a welcome step that gives student accommodation a place in local planning across the capital. London Higher supported this approach from an early stage and pressed for it to be carried through at borough level. To make the figures work as intended, the Plan needs to be clearer about how boroughs should use them, so they support new provision rather than limit it.
London Higher called for:
- Making clear the borough-level PBSA targets are minimums, not caps, so boroughs can support further provision where there is clear need
- Protecting the overall supply of affordable student rooms
- Making the affordability test fairer for longer courses, such as conservatoire programmes
- Wider recognition of how universities and colleges support skills and jobs across the capital
- clearer recognition of the role of conservatoires and specialist creative institutions in London’s creative economy
London’s students are Londoners – and almost 550,000 students study at London’s higher education institutions, more than the population of any London borough. An affordable supply of places to live helps students study, work and contribute to the life of the city. It also helps London attract and keep talent from across the UK and the world, supporting the Mayor’s ambitions in the London Growth Plan and London’s place as the higher education capital of the world.
London Higher will continue to make the case for higher education’s place at the heart of London’s future. We will keep members updated as the Plan progresses.
