London can expect an influx of big planning applications within the next two months, according to the Conservative councillor responsible for major development in Hammersmith & Fulham.

Mark Loveday said today that the next 18 months would be prime time for major planning applications, such as the King Street and Earls Court regeneration projects, because of the lack of political uncertainty ahead of the mayoral election in two years.

Loveday, who was speaking at the M&N Communications Future of London event this morning, said “no significant planning applications” had been put forward in the last eight months because developers wanted to avoid getting “caught up in the mess of the election.”

He gave the King Street and Earls Court regeneration projects as two examples of applications that had been “on hold” in Hammersmith & Fulham because of uncertainty around the election.

Loveday, who is a specialist property barrister and non-executive chair of Greater London Enterprise Group, welcomed the Conservatives’ plan to abolish the Government Office for London, which acts on behalf of the Secretary of State on land use planning matters in London.  He said it would speed up applications by taking away a layer of accountability.

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