Boroughs | Havering

• Strategic location at the intersection of key transport connections between London and the rest of the UK, and just 30 minutes from City and Stansted airports means we are the gateway to London from the East and to Europe from London.
• Part of the new Queen Elizabeth Line, the new railway line, currently being built by Crossrail Ltd, will stop at 41 accessible stations, including Harold Wood, Gidea Park and Romford, and will link Havering to Bond Street, London Heathrow, Bond Street and further west to Maidenhead.  It is expected to serve around 200 million people each year.
• Among the highest levels of entrepreneurship in the UK https://www.havering.gov.uk/news/article/240/havering_continues_to_be_the_best_borough_for_starting_a_business
• One of the highest percentage of parks and open spaces (60%) and the second lowest population density for London, contributing to an excellent quality of life for those living, working and visiting the borough.

Zoe Fletcher , Senior Communications and Campaigns Officer
Zoe.Fletcher@havering.gov.uk

““Havering has the potential to realise significant payoffs in terms of growth and local aspiration. Supporting businesses to locate and expand within the borough, and making sure that our residents are the first to benefit from such growth, remains a key ambition for the Council.

“As a London Borough on the border of London and Essex, Havering has easy access to the city as well as the South east via the M25, relatively affordable housing and a wealth of green and open spaces, making it an attractive location for businesses and residents.

“We continue to lead the way to secure prosperous futures for businesses and residents, using development and regeneration programmes to create meaningful and positive growth for an even brighter and better future for Havering.””

• Housing: We are committed to tackling the current housing crisis, including building new council homes across Islington giving priority to local residents. We have set an ambitious target of 750 new homes starting on site between 2023-27. Over the past five years we have used retained Right to Buy (RTB) receipts and GLA grant to help acquire 281 ex-RTB properties. This represents a total investment of nearly £113m to provide good quality, in-borough temporary accommodation for rough sleepers, homeless families in Islington and families relocated to the UK through the Afghanistan humanitarian programme.
• Young citizens: Despite having to make savings of almost £281 million since 2010, all libraries, children’s centres and youth hubs are protected, as are free school meals for all nursery and primary school pupils, which save families over £450 a year for children on packed lunches.
• Environment: We aim to achieve our ambition of becoming a net zero carbon borough by 2030; by increasing the proportion of electric and hybrid vehicles in our fleet, and by measures such as investing in more Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and School Streets as part of Islington’s People Friendly Streets Programme.
• Employment: Islington’s employment service has a target to support 1,250 people into work every year over the next four years. By the end of the third quarter of this year, we had successfully placed 1,990 people into work.
• Safety: We have set up Safe Havens, a practical way for everyone in Islington enjoy their community knowing that support is easily available if they need help, for example they are in danger, feeling threatened or unwell. We've trebled our safe haven target of 100 premises to secure 300 safe havens by the end of the year. Furthermore, we're looking to extend our knife surrender bin scheme which has had over 3000 knives surrendered in two years – over 3000 positive choices made.