Centre for London

📢 Our flagship London Conference 2024 will take place on Monday 11 November! Join us for a full-day participatory conference where we'll ask - what is the London we want to see in 2030? How will we get there? The past decade has seen unprecedented political, social and economic upheaval nationwide. In London, productivity has stalled, wealth inequality has grown, and inflation continues to soar above national averages.  The next five years offers significant opportunities for renewal - hosting the newly confirmed Mayoral and Westminster Government terms as well as key milestones for sustainability goals. Together, we will explore how our city can become inclusive, sustainable and successful - a world-leading, global city which functions for all. As the cornerstone of the capital’s public policy and political calendar, London Conference cannot be missed. Find out about ticket prices and register your interest now: https://lnkd.in/ePeQKy6T

October has been a standout month for research on social issues, with several important new independent publications being published ahead of the budget. Here's a quick summary of 9️⃣ reports that came out this month, shedding new light on poverty and inequality in London & the UK and making the case for change: 1/ A new report by Savills - joint funded by us and London Councils - analysed London's private rental market, finding that only *5%* of available rentals are affordable to low-income households - https://lnkd.in/eKYsczxC 2/ London Councils report 'London's Housing Emergency' laid bare the extent of London's housing crisis, showing that more than *180,000 Londoners* are homeless and in temporary accommodation. This is a new record, and equivalent to *1 in 50* Londoners - https://lnkd.in/eKYsczxC 3/ London's Low Pay Landscape, by Living Wage Foundation highlighted the picture of Low Pay in London. More than half a million Londoners are low paid – 574,000 people , 13.3% of jobs in the capital - https://t.co/fr4aX0urty 4/ Public Interest Law Centre published a report arguing that estate regenerations can't solve London's housing emergency. These regenerations typically underproduce truly affordable homes for low income Londoners and increase council and social rents by an average of more than *£80pw* - https://t.co/RCrzobnrxl 5/ Fairness Foundation published the 'Wealth Gap Risk Register', outlining the impacts that stark wealth inequality has on society: https://t.co/ziCsngPl2N 6/ UCL's Institute of Health Equity published a report on how structural racism contributes to avoidable and unfair inequalities in the UK and London - https://t.co/wEuovKnn0G 7/ Generation Rent UK & National Survivor User Network published research highlighting the impact of private renting on mental health, finding that *9 in 10* tenants reported that their mental health has been negatively affected by private renting - https://t.co/wEuovKnn0G 8/ Scope published 2024's disability price tag, showing that on average, disabled households now need an extra £1,010 each month to have the same standard of living as others - https://t.co/18Xcy4kkVm 9/ Centre for London looked into London's social housing waiting lists. 323,000 households in London are on waiting lists for social housing – more than double the population of Cambridge. Londoners are waiting years, even decades, for social housing - https://lnkd.in/eangctju

From this budget London needs investment for infrastructure, to sort out its housing crisis and to save local government ✨ Read more from our research: https://lnkd.in/d-jPqu_q

Last week we were very pleased to celebrate the launch of London Social Ventures, a collaborative initiative that promises to invigorate social innovation in the capital. Together with UCL and Queen Mary University of London, we’re proud to work alongside universities and organisations that are committed to social change. We highlight here the five UCLB ventures that are joining the initiative: - TrimTots: promoting healthy eating through play - EDRAF: expanding access to credit through inclusive data  - Diversity Data Hub: advancing workplace inclusivity  - START: supporting carers of people with dementia  - Wellspring: tackling consent. Read more about the launch and the ventures committed to social impact: https://lnkd.in/eWyT2eqg Image credit: ASV Photography Ltd.

🌟 What a Launch! Last Wednesday, we proudly unveiled London Social Ventures – a coalition of London’s leading universities committed to fostering social ventures emerging from the capital’s university landscape. Our mission? To provide these ventures with the resources, networks, and expertise they need to make a lasting impact on London’s social and economic wellbeing. With over 100 guests from across London’s diverse ecosystem, the energy in the room was inspiring as we explored new ways to accelerate social change through university-led social innovation. 🗣️ Sir Stephen Timms MP opened with an inspiring message, emphasizing the power of collaborative efforts like London Social Ventures in bringing together institutions, businesses, and government to create meaningful impact. He also shared how this initiative aligns with the new Labour government’s focus on inclusive economic growth and called for collective action to build a more connected and resilient London. 🗣️ We had the pleasure of hearing from Janet Coyle CBE from London & Partners, whose keynote resonated deeply with the audience. Janet shared her vision of London as a global leader in social innovation, advocating for purpose-driven partnerships that bridge the gap between private, public, and social sectors. 🗣️ Antonia Jennings from Centre for London, Jamie Broderick of the Impact Investing Institute, Rebecca Burns from British Land, and Phil Clare of Queen Mary Innovation discussed London’s pressing social challenges and how social ventures can address them. From transforming procurement to engaging communities, they explored how innovative, place-based solutions can redefine London’s urban landscape both now and in the future. 🗣️ Chaired by Kieran John, this session showcased university-led ventures, with amazing Charlie Blair of The Blair Academy and Julie Lanigan of TRIMTOTS C.I.C. sharing their journeys, challenges, and rewards in building social ventures from as a student and within academia respectively. David Miller and Clare Moses added perspectives on the crucial support universities and partners like Barclays Eagle Labs provide, highlighting the essential role of mentorship and institutional backing in social entrepreneurship. 🗣️ We closed with presentations from our pilot ventures – speek, RecycleLab, Chamiah Dewey , EDRAF, and Leon Barker – each sharing their work and visions for the future. We’re thrilled to be supporting them on their journey! 🚀 This is just the beginning! We’re excited to launch our first venture programme and announce upcoming pilots. Follow London Social Ventures here on LinkedIn for updates, exclusive content, and ways to get involved in our mission. 💬 If you want to get involved with what we are doing or want to know more get in touch by contacting us on our website https://lnkd.in/ecKDAgXX #socialventure #socialenterprise #london

Great to be on BBC Politics London over the weekend talking about what's needed in the Budget to turn the corner on the housing crisis in London and how our report published last week outlines just how serious the situation is for households waiting for social housing in the capital. Thanks to new data from councils, our interactive report offers detailed analysis of waiting lists and wait times at the pan-London, sub-regional and borough-level for the first time. https://lnkd.in/emve2pZq 📊 One of my main takeaways from this work is that the lack of a standardised dataset of this kind for social housing waiting times and list totals makes mapping the true nature and extent of London’s social housing needs challenging, undermining the ability of national and local decision-makers to respond effectively to the needs of households among those most affected by London’s housing crisis. It's encouraging to see the announcements from the Government this weekend of a (modest) uplift to the Affordable Homes Programme, and a commitment to allowing councils to retain 100% of Right to Buy Receipts. 🤞 that this signals the beginning of the concerted, long-term effort and investment needed to increase the supply of social homes and provide the homes that Londoners need.

How will planning reforms, Labour’s housebuilding targets and the legacy of the last Government impact housebuilding and major infrastructure projects in London over the next five years? Join us at this year’s London Conference on Monday 11 November as we explore these crucial topics affecting the capital. 🏗️ Our panel discussion ‘Developing London’ will bring experts together to discuss how we meet the scale of housing need in tandem with positioning London as an ascendant global city. Chaired by Antonia Jennings, the discussion will also feature Russell Curtis of RCKa, Jules Pipe CBE, Deputy Mayor of London for Planning, Regeneration and Fire Safety Greater London Authority, and Razia Khanom, Vice Chair of the London CLT. Find out more and register your interest now: https://lnkd.in/ePeQKy6T

Looking forward to hosting the post-conference reception for Centre for London's The London Conference 2024 on November 11. With a theme focused on ‘What is the London we want in 2030 – and how will we get there?’ and with Centre for London launching its 2025-2030 strategy, there will be loads to talk about. Plus, of course, hear how Be First Regeneration Limited and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham are excellently placed and proactive in delivering economic growth and housing delivery, building on our track record to date and the amazing opportunities in this sub-region. Opportunities that will really benefit those living and working here, now and in the future.

We're delighted to be a part of London Social Ventures, an exciting initiative bringing together London’s leading universities to support the growth of social ventures arising from the capital. Led by Queen Mary University of London and UCL, London Social Ventures will provide critical pre-seed funding, mentoring and a robust support network for university-led social ventures that are addressing some of the biggest challenges facing our communities. The first 14 social ventures to be supported by the initiative’s ‘Advanced Support Programme’ were announced today, at an official launch for London Social Ventures and are addressing issues ranging from sustainability, to healthy eating. Trimtots, for example, is an immersive healthy eating programme for families and young children formed out of the behavioural and nutrition research of UCL academic Julie Lannigan and colleagues. Dr. Steven Schooling, Managing Director of UCL Business (UCLB) commented: “We are thrilled to be part of this groundbreaking initiative. UCLB has a long history of social venture success, and we look forward to working with our partners to offer the critical support these ventures need to grow.”   Discover more: https://lnkd.in/gKYviQYH   #SocialVentures #LondonSocialVentures speek | EDRAF TECH | DEWEY | RecycleLab | Centre for London | Impact Investing Institute | British Land | Queen Mary Innovation

Proud to share my first report with Centre for London on London's social housing waiting times. In partnership with The G15 we've created a borough-by-borough analysis revealing fresh insight into London's social housing challenges. It details a stark disparity in experience between London boroughs, but one statistic which struck me most is how households in East London wait more than double the time for social housing than in South London. In fact, East London has more households on waiting lists than North, South and West London combined. Read below and be sure to follow us for more. 👇 https://lnkd.in/eeaTiYZ3