Mayor Khan’s proposed London Plan puts pressure on Barnet

Barely five years after Mayor Khan’s current London Plan came into force, he’s consulting on a new one. The good news is that it will be a lot slimmer than the present version. The bad news for Barnet is that he’s upping his target for new homes in our borough, and he’s identified places in the Green Belt where some of them could be built.

The draft new Plan was published in July and is open for comments until 15 October. Its housing target for Barnet is to build 32,730 new homes between 2028 & 2037 – a 38% increase on the present London Plan. That still won’t be enough to deliver the Labour government’s pledge of 1.5 million new homes over the lifetime of this parliament. The Mayor and other Labour politicians are increasingly keen to pull any levers that might boost housing supply.

Since brownfield sites within Barnet are limited and more expensive to build on, the Mayor wants the Council to build 7,000 homes in its Green Belt (see map below). He states a preference for using those parts of it deemed ‘Grey Belt’, which could include derelict land in Arkley such as the site illustrated above. But he acknowledges that some greenfield areas will have to be sacrificed.

On his election as MP for Chipping Barnet, Dan Thomlinson said, ‘Our green spaces and the beautiful Green Belt here in this constituency is something that I will always fight for and protect’. We hope he still keeps that promise.

The Plan would require at least 50% of new homes in the Green Belt to be ‘affordable’, or 35% in the case of schemes for 10-35 homes. (Developments of fewer than 10 homes are exempt.) These are ambitious targets, significantly higher than normally offered by developers. If they can be achieved, the Barnet Society might consider that a reasonable trade-off for the loss of some poor-quality Green Belt.

The Plan would subject any residential development in the Green Belt to conditions. Notably, the vast majority of the new homes would have to be located either within 400m of an eligible bus route or 1.2km – 15 minutes’ walk – from one of seven ‘well-connected’ rail and tube stations in Barnet. But that puts most of the constituency of Chipping Barnet in the frame, i.e. from Arkley to Hadley, and from New Barnet to Whetstone.

In addition to these seven ‘broad locations for growth’ (BLGs), the draft Plan also identifies ‘future industrial-led Green Belt candidates’ around the A1 at Borehamwood. This could include the extensive tract of land north-east of Stirling Corner (pictured at the top of this post).

Other industrial-led sites are by the M25 in Enfield, possibly associated with a 21,000-home new town at Crews Hill. That proposal is supported by the government and the Mayor of London, though – since the May local elections – no longer by Enfield Council.

The Plan also sets out strategic criteria for the construction of additional data centres across London to meet the growing demand. These are typically enormous boxes that consume large quanties of electricity and water (for cooling).

The draft London Plan makes no mention of the proposal in Barnet’s Local Plan to create a new Regional Park on the Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Space stretching between Arkley, Scratchwood and Mill Hill. Unless kept to the absolute minimum necessary for sustainable management of the Park, residential or commercial development within this zone would defeat its whole point.

You can read more about these threats and opportunities in my previous web post on the Green Belt.

Barnet Council has declared its objection to the Mayor’s proposals for housing and the Green Belt, which contradict the Local Plan that it adopted only last year. Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Homes and Regeneration, Cllr Ross Houston, said:

“Barnet Council will carefully assess the detail of the draft London Plan before submitting its formal response to the consultation and we will continue to work with residents, communities and partners to ensure any future growth delivers the homes, opportunities and neighbourhoods that people need and want to see.”

Cllr Houston, the Barnet Society would be delighted to work with you, especially on the existential threat to our Green Belt.

Above: Cllr Ross Houston speaking at a Barnet Society public meeting on housing in Barnet in 2023

You can view the draft Plan here. Tell Mayor Khan your views by doing one of the following:

– complete the online survey,
– email londonplan@london.gov.uk(External link

– write to Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, Draft London Plan, London Plan Team, Planning & Regeneration, City Hall, Kamal Chunchie Way, London, E16 1ZE.

The deadline for comments is 5pm on Thursday, 15 October 2026.