Southwark Local Plan: adopted policies and emerging plans

Check the planning authority first

Southwark Council is the planning authority for sites in its borough. The Mayor’s London Plan provides the strategic London-wide framework; both policy levels should be read for the actual project and location.

Area action plans and regeneration strategies can appear prominently in older planning histories. The adoption resolution rescinded the Aylesbury, Peckham and Nunhead, and Canada Water Area Action Plans, together with the 2007 Southwark Plan and 2011 Core Strategy.

Adopted development-plan documents

Read the relevant policy wording and map together. An unverified date is a gap in this profile, not a finding that a document has no legal effect.

• Southwark Plan 2022

  Adopted. 23 February 2022 adoption.

  Adopted 23 February 2022.

  Regeneration strategy, development-management policies, key development sites and neighbourhood visions. Site entries include land-use and urban-design requirements. Read the relevant area vision alongside the borough-wide policy wording, rather than assuming an allocation alone determines the acceptability of a particular scheme.

  Plan period and recorded dates

  Plan period

  2019 to 2036

  Adopted or made

  23 February 2022

  Separate effective date

  Not verified

• London Plan 2021

  Adopted. March 2021 published plan.

  London-wide strategic framework covering housing, design, infrastructure, transport, heritage and environmental policy. Read the relevant strategic policies with the local documents and any area-specific requirements. Individual policies have different time horizons; this profile does not assign a single expiry date.

  Plan period and recorded dates

  Plan period

  Not verified

  Adopted or made

  Exact date not verified

  Separate effective date

  Not verified

Policies maps and site boundaries

The Southwark Plan overview links the planning policies interactive map. Locate the site there and identify the applicable allocation or designations before reading the corresponding plan text. The plan’s neighbourhood visions and site-specific urban-design requirements provide more context than a map boundary alone.

For sites with historic area-action-plan references, translate the old location and policy references into the 2022 plan and current map. Do not combine an old allocation diagram with the replacement plan’s wording without checking that their boundaries and requirements match.

• Southwark Plan 2022 overview and map

Emerging plans and examination progress

The 21 July 2026 decision notes commencement of a full review called Southwark Plan 2045, agrees formal notice and adopts a timetable. Adoption of that timetable is an administrative programme decision, not adoption of the new development plan.

The current 2045 page provides routes to the notice of intention and timetable. Exact future consultation windows were not verified in the sources used for this profile and should be checked on those live pages before planning a response.

The council’s planning-policy index separately identifies work on an Old Kent Road Area Action Plan. Its existence should not be confused with adoption of Southwark Plan 2045; check that area process independently if the site lies within it.

• Southwark Plan 2045

  Emerging: not adopted. Preparation announced; July 2026 timetable decision.

  A full review of the Southwark Plan under the new plan-making system. The council publishes a notice-of-intention route and Local Plan timetable. This is a preparation-stage process; the evidence checked does not establish a submitted or adopted replacement plan.

  Plan period and recorded dates

  Plan period

  To 2045

  Adopted or made

  Not adopted in checked sources

  Separate effective date

  Not verified

Published milestones and events

• Southwark Plan adopted

  23 February 2022

  The current overview confirms adoption and the 2019–2036 plan period.

  • Southwark Plan 2022 overview and map

• 2045 review programme agreed

  21 July 2026

  The council agreed commencement notice and timetable for a full review.

  • Local Plan timetable decision

Check the official programme before attending a hearing or relying on a deadline. A consultation, hearing or inspector's report is distinct from adoption. This page is a checked snapshot, not a live calendar.

Local design and supporting guidance

For a design proposal, use the 2022 plan’s urban-design requirements and the council’s current SPD index together. The guidance overview explains that SPDs add detail about how development-plan policies are applied in decisions.

The current overview links historic plans and guidance separately. Where an older design document appears in a previous decision, confirm its present status and policy relationship rather than assuming the previous officer report supplies an up-to-date list for a new application.

• Southwark supplementary planning documents

  Supporting guidance. Current council guidance overview.

  Supporting documents explain how the council expects adopted policy to be implemented and how it assesses relevant applications. Use the current index and check each document’s status. Earlier guidance has a separate historic-document route; a downloadable old SPD should not automatically be treated as current.

  Plan period and recorded dates

  Plan period

  Not verified

  Adopted or made

  Exact date not verified

  Separate effective date

  Not verified

Design guidance does not establish that work is permitted development. Check the national rules, planning conditions and any relevant local restrictions.

What to do for your property

1. Confirm the borough boundary and identify the neighbourhood in the 2022 plan.
2. Use the current interactive map and read any site allocation in full.
3. Check design guidance against the council’s current and historic registers.
4. For Old Kent Road, check its separate area-plan process.
5. Reopen the 2045 timetable before relying on programme dates or consultation arrangements.

Keep the document versions, maps and date of your check with your project notes. A boundary, policy conflict or transition may need assessment by the relevant authority or a suitably qualified planning professional.

Sources, review and changes

These AI-assisted checks cover published document identity, status, dates and links. They do not decide how policy applies to an individual site, and professional planning review has not been completed.

Source-check dates describe when we inspected the source. They do not renew automatically when the website is rebuilt. We link to official documents without claiming a licence over them or republishing them.

First published 8 September 2026. Recorded adopted and emerging documents, source dates and stated gaps.

Report a correction with this page and an official source link.