Planning departments “must see more funds”, according to Sir Edward Lister.
At a debate to launch GROW.LONDON, an online tool to aid business expansion, the deputy mayor of London said: “There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with the planning system. It is just too slow.”
Lister said that improving the pace of the system would require a change of legislation and the expenditure of more money.
Speaking to Estates Gazette, he said: “I don’t think a single developer would complain about a little extra cost.”
The debate centred around how London could maintain its position as a leading city in the face of a rapidly expanding population and an undersupply of office stock.
Michael Davis, head of JLL’s new London Unlimited team, said that in order to adapt, businesses must be “more geographically footloose than ever”.
Davis said: “Over the next five years London is expected to have a 23m sq ft underprovision of office stock, which is why we are excited about the opportunities in developing neighbourhoods such as Battersea, Tottenham and the whole of east London.”
Listen below to Estates Gazette’s interview with Davis about London’s new hotspots.
