London boroughs have been left competing for a share of City Hall’s £500,000 outdoor dining fund after demand for the programme exceeded the available budget.
The expanded Summer Streets initiative aims to help restaurants, pubs and cafés boost trade by creating more al fresco dining spaces, extending opening hours and hosting community events during the summer months.However, only 13 boroughs secured funding this year despite applications from almost every local authority across the capital.
Sir Sadiq Khan‘s Deputy Mayor for Business, Howard Dawber, said the programme had “really caught the imagination” and suggested further investment could follow if this year’s scheme proves successful.
Speaking at a Summer Streets event in Wembley, he said: “This year is massively expanded. It has really caught the imagination. We’ve had some great summers. London’s coming alive. People come out onto the streets and enjoy the company of other Londoners.”
Mr Dawber said almost every London borough submitted a bid, but City Hall’s funding allocation meant several proposals could not be supported.
“We wish we could do more,” he said. “Pretty much every borough bid for it. We could have done a few more. Hopefully we’ll be able to put some more funding together for future years as well.”
The programme has grown significantly since its launch last year, when four boroughs trialled outdoor dining schemes.
This summer’s funding is supporting events across 13 boroughs, with businesses using the grants to introduce outdoor seating, live entertainment and extended trading hours.
In Wembley, Cha Sha restaurant has used the funding to organise al fresco dining alongside live music and partnerships with neighbouring businesses throughout August.
Mr Dawber said the initiative was designed to do more than simply fund outdoor seating. “They’ve taken that funding and built around it, engaging with lots of local businesses,” he said.
“They’re all signed up to offer discounts and this has become a real celebration of the street. It’s a lot more than just the al fresco. It’s a celebration of the community.”
The Deputy Mayor added that some boroughs which missed out on funding had still chosen to proceed by securing sponsorship independently. “The programme is really a catalyst that gets everybody thinking about what they can do,” he said.
The initiative comes as London’s hospitality industry continues to face financial pressures.
Businesses have been affected by rising employer National Insurance contributions, increases to the National Minimum Wage and continued challenges recovering customer spending following the pandemic.
Although footfall has largely returned to pre-pandemic levels in many parts of London, Mr Dawber said customer spending had not kept pace. “You might have a full restaurant, but the spend’s not as high as it once was,” he said.
“There are a lot of things that are down to national government, but we’re determined to make London the best place to start and grow your business.”
Deputy Mayor for Culture Justine Simons said City Hall hopes outdoor dining becomes a permanent feature across the capital. “We want London to really be an al fresco city, for al fresco to be the norm, not the exception,” she said.
She added that last year’s pilot demonstrated strong results, with footfall increasing by as much as 85% in some locations.
The programme’s expansion has not escaped criticism.
Former Conservative London mayoral hopeful Alex Challoner described the £500,000 fund as “inadequate”, arguing it represented only a modest investment compared with City Hall’s overall spending. He claimed the funding was too thinly spread to deliver a meaningful boost to London’s hospitality sector.
City Hall said it will review this year’s results before deciding whether to expand the programme further in 2027.
