Ealing Council’s strategic director for economy and sustainability on London’s housing crisis, nightlife and why growth needs jobs

As Strategic Director for Economy and Sustainability, he oversees six departments spanning planning, housing delivery, economic growth, schools, leisure facilities and building control. He argues that the emphasis on economy is no accident.

Peter George’s job title tells you something important about how Ealing Council thinks about urban development. “The London Plan has a housing target, but it doesn’t have a jobs target,” George observes. “Our view is there should be equal importance attributed to economic investment as well as housing investment. The two are interlinked.”

It is a pointed criticism of the prevailing orthodoxy in London planning and one that George believes has contributed to the capital’s affordability crisis. “One of the reasons why homes are unaffordable in London is wage stagnation,” he says. “We don’t accept old thinking that you can only have high-growth sectors within the City or Canary Wharf. For London’s economy to grow, there needs to be a number of different areas of economic excellence.”

George has been at Ealing for two and a half years, but his assessment of the recent market is unsparing. “2025 was probably the most difficult, challenging year in my career in terms of the market and being able to deliver new homes, not just in Ealing, but across London and beyond,” he says. “We saw a big move away from investing in new major residential schemes. Instead, where there was activity in Ealing, it was predominantly in the co-living and PBSA areas.”

Ealing has been a pioneer of co-living, most notably hosting the Collective’s first investment in the sector. But George is clear about priorities. “Our preference is always, given a choice between co-living and conventional residential, C3 residential,” he says. “Particularly, and I think Ealing is on its own on this, we’ve been quite clear on major developments that we’d actually prefer to see Build-to-Rent development rather than market sale development.”

The reasoning is straightforward. “In many parts of London, market sale is just out of reach in terms of the level of deposit you need, whereas BTR is more accessible,” George explains. He notes the recent GLA and government accelerator package, which has helped level the playing field between different tenures and he expects to see a return to residential uses through 2026.

The viability challenge varies across the borough. “In Ealing, there are parts of the borough where it’s actually more viable to do 100% affordable,” George reveals. “I’ve got developers calling me saying, ‘We will buy this site and build X hundred homes for affordable if the council is able to buy it.’ We’re having those conversations at the moment because the GLA grant rates are fairly healthy.”

Yet BTR investment in London has dropped off sharply over the last five years. George acknowledges the headwinds: construction cost inflation, debt costs increasing four or five-fold and the Building Safety Regulator’s Gateway 2 process, which has left developers in a lengthy queue. Still, he remains cautiously optimistic. “I have had some encouraging conversations with some major BTR developers in the last two or three months who are keen to invest in Ealing, which gives me hope that we will see a re-emergence of BTR deals in London over the next year.”

On the question of whether Ealing is genuinely open for business, George is emphatic. “I would say very generally that Ealing is a very pro-growth council,” he states. “How do I define pro-growth? There has to be a complete join-up between the senior politicians, the senior officers, the planning committee and the planning department. I believe we’ve got that here.”

Supporting his claim are the statistics. Last year, Ealing recorded the highest number of affordable housing starts in London. The council’s planning department has been independently judged to be platinum quality, the highest rating available. But George argues the imperative goes beyond targets. “The reason why we’re pro-growth is that the borough needs investment. There’s now one in 21 children in London in temporary accommodation. We’ve got 7,500 on the waiting list for social housing in Ealing.”

He points to the West Tech Corridor, a collaboration between Ealing, Imperial College and the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, as evidence of economic ambition. “We’re seeing major investment in life sciences and tech innovation in North Acton today,” he says.

The challenge of balancing housing targets with economic development is made harder by scarce land resources. “At the moment, Ealing’s target is 2,100 per year. The new target is 88,000 across London,” George notes. “Some councils take land out of employment to release it for housing just to hit that target.”

The density question is unavoidable. Ealing has more Crossrail stations than any other borough, presenting opportunities for concentrated development around transport hubs. “Ever since I started my career, that was one of the first urban design principles I was taught: where there are major transport hubs, you have to organise density around them to deliver sustainable development,” George says. “Otherwise, you end up with car-reliant developments which a major city like London can’t afford.”

George encourages early engagement with developers. “I would invite developers and investors to contact me personally at an early stage. I’m on LinkedIn, or my email is georgep@ealing.gov.uk,” he says. “Developers who have my contact details often call me and say, ‘Peter, we’re thinking about buying this land. It’s got this consent that is no longer viable; if we were to do this or that, it would be a worthy investment.’ I give them a steer, and they proceed with confidence.”

He acknowledges this approach puts Ealing in the minority. “Ealing’s probably within the top three or five in terms of housing numbers and growth. I couldn’t work for a council that wasn’t interested in growth.”

The social challenges facing local authorities are stark, with councils having endured fifteen years of austerity cuts. Ealing was only one of three London councils to balance its budget last year. George’s philosophy centres on early intervention. “Rather than looking at it as just a housing problem or an addiction problem, we look at early intervention and prevention,” he says. “Housing is the first, most important, secure foundation for any person’s life to flourish.”

On community engagement, George argues for clarity upfront. “A lot of people get frustrated with development because they feel it ‘takes and doesn’t give back.’ We need to be clear about what social infrastructure a development needs to provide to make it acceptable, like a nursery on the ground floor if the area is lacking one.”

He cites a recent apartment hotel development where initial proposals appeared lacking. “We were clear that we needed to offer amenities back. Through collaboration, there’s now going to be a live music venue in the basement,” George says. The Hangar Lane development fits into what he calls Ealing’s “Economy after 6 PM” strategy.

Music venues and nightlife present particular tensions with residential development. George is unequivocal about priorities. “London can only continue to be a successful global city if it’s got a thriving nighttime economy. Live music is vital. If the trend of declining clubs and venues continues, it undermines our ability to attract talent.”

He endorses the Agent of Change principle. “My view is that what was there first should take precedence. If a residential development is coming forward after an existing venue, they can’t then demand the venue shut down.”

George believes London’s nighttime economy remains underdeveloped. “When you return to London from abroad, you notice it’s hard work to go out after midnight, even on a Monday,” he says. “We’ve given too much currency to those who campaign against venues and not enough to the ‘silent people’, a larger group who move to London specifically for that nightlife and culture.”

Looking ahead, Ealing’s local plan should be adopted in the summer, facilitating 2,100 homes annually. Then the process starts again with new targets. “We’re going to do it differently, asking the local people in each of Ealing’s seven towns how they want to organise growth. Town centres? Suburbs? Greenbelt?” George says. The council is also delivering a new regional park for London and seeking partners for film studios, cultural spaces and office accommodation.

Growing up in east London in the 1980s and 1990s shaped George’s perspective. “I’m a proud Londoner. I think about my role as responsible for both Team Ealing and Team London,” he says. “London generally feels a safer place than it did 20 years ago. The affordability crisis has forced middle-class families into parts of London that wouldn’t have been contemplated two decades ago.”

For George, the path forward requires joining up housing delivery with economic growth, protecting nightlife whilst building homes, and balancing community concerns with the urgent need for development. It is an agenda that places Ealing at the progressive end of London local authorities, and one that suggests the borough will remain a testing ground for how the capital navigates its most pressing challenges.