Hana Loftus

Hana Loftus, architect, co-director of HAT Projects and chartered town planner who leads engagement at Greater Cambridge and chairs Creative Colchester. She discusses how planning and architecture intersect, the limits of participation, why housing often lacks quality, and ways to teach and fund meaningful placemaking and public involvement.

In between movin' and shakin' in The Big Smoke recently Sam Stafford took the opportunity to meet a few friends of the podcast at Soho Radio Studios to pick out the highlights from another exciting few weeks in the fast-paced, ever-changing, rock and roll world of town and country planning. Sam caught up with, and the episode features, old friends of the podcast Simon Ricketts, Annie Gingell, Shelly Rouse and Hana Loftus, and new friend of the podcast Hayley White. Over the course of an hour or so they talked about affordable housing delivery, specifically the constraints on the use of grant funding by RPs and the (then) rumoured changes to affordable housing thresholds in London. They talked about C.G. Fry and the implications of that Supreme Court decision. They talked in the context of a second letter from the Housing & Planning Minister to the Planning Inspectorate about local plan coverage and whether stepped trajectories should be seen a pragmatic response to changing circumstances or an exercise in cynical can-kicking. And towards the end they touched on National Development Management Policies. Some accompanying reading. London Stalling Will Labour’s London housing boost plan work? Residential development in London Local Plan examinations: letter to the Chief Executive of the Planning Inspectorate (October 2025) Why stepped housing requirements aren’t justified and should be avoided What does planning permission *really* get you: CG Fry in the Supreme Court — #planoraks Autumn Budget 2025 - LPDF submission to HMT Some accompanying viewing. Panorama – The race to build 1.5 million homes The Planners are Coming Some accompanying listening. The Rolling Stones -Jigsaw Puzzle Any other business. 50 Shades T-Shirts! If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning you will have heard Clive Betts say that... 'In the Netherlands planning is seen as part of the solution. In the UK, too often, planning is seen as part of the problem'. Sam said in reply that that would look good on a t-shirt and it does. Further details can be found here. Sam is on Bluesky and Instagram. His blog contains a link to his newsletter.