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Your weekly London local government update

19 Mar 25

Funding agreement will help make thousands of London homes warmer and greener

Around 22,000 homes across the capital with poor insulation and high energy bills are set to benefit from over £230m of funding secured by London Councils, social housing providers and the Mayor of London.

This funding from central government for energy saving measures includes: £175m from the Warm Homes Social Housing Fund, which will provide £77.9m for a Strategic Housing Partnership across London boroughs and housing associations to upgrade their social housing stock; with the remainder going to other social housing providers in the capital; and £56m from the Warm Homes Local Grant, which will help low-income Londoners in private housing across 31 boroughs.

The majority of these funding agreements (£130m) will be co-ordinated by Warmer Homes London ( [link removed] ) (WHL), which was launched earlier this year by London Councils and the Mayor of London. WHL will work with social landlords to accelerate Londoners’ access to free measures to improve their homes, lower household heating bills, and reduce carbon emissions.

With 379,000 London households living in fuel poverty, WHL’s priority is to help low-income Londoners by providing energy-saving upgrades - including insulation, solar panels and heat pumps - to make their homes warmer and greener.

To boost the impact of the government funding, London boroughs and housing associations have combined their own investment and committed over £100m of additional resources into retrofitting their own social housing stock.

London Councils’ Executive Member for Climate, Transport & Environment, Cllr Kieron Williams ( [link removed] ),  said: “Far too many Londoners are living in fuel poverty and in homes unfit for our changing climate. Through Warmer Homes London, we are securing vital investment to help tackle these challenges.

“This funding will help us make thousands of homes across the capital warmer and greener, bringing down both energy bills and carbon emissions. In the long run, we want to deliver energy efficiency upgrades to even more homes and we will be looking to secure further investment to support this crucial work.”

Parking and traffic penalty charges to increase for first time since 2011

London boroughs have agreed to raise parking and traffic penalty charges for the first time since 2011. The new penalty charges and fees will come into effect from Monday 7 April 2025.

Boroughs say the increase is necessary to ensure penalty charge notices (PCN) remain effective deterrents and properly incentivise drivers to drive and park safely.

Boroughs highlight that the money raised by PCNs cannot go into their general funds for any purpose.

Instead, local authorities have a legal duty to ensure any net revenue raised by PCNs is reinvested in traffic and transport schemes.

In London this includes paying for the Freedom Pass providing free public transport for 1.2 million older and disabled Londoners.

With some PCN levels having been unchanged for 14 years and others for 18 years, boroughs were concerned that charge levels were not high enough to encourage compliance.

The number of PCNs issued in the capital has increased by around 70% since 2010 (from 4.8 million in 2009/10 to 8.3 million in 2023/24).

Read more about PCNs and the decision here. ( [link removed] )

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In the news this week...

Full list of allocations under the latest Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund round
Inside Housing ( [link removed] )

Interview with Cllr Grace Williams on borough finance pressures
BBC Radio London ( [link removed] )

Nationalisation of services and ending private sector ‘exploitation’ – will government consider ‘radical’ solutions to fix finances?
Room 151 ( [link removed] )

Minister: Spending review will be ‘difficult’
LGC ( [link removed] )

Most London councils opt for maximum tax increase
BBC News ( [link removed] )

The Mayor of London and London Councils have come together with local leaders from business, education and the voluntary sector to launch a bold new plan to turbocharge economic growth and increase prosperity across the capital. You can read more about London's Growth Plan here. ( [link removed] )

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London Councils is the collective of local government in London, the 32 boroughs and the City of London.
We also run pan-London services like Freedom Pass and Taxicard.
London Councils, 4th Floor, 12 Arthur Street, London, EC4R 9AB

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