The Chancellor will reveal her long-term budget plans for public services on Wednesday, but there is speculation London is set to be snubbed in the government's Spending Review.
There are rumours of a rift between Sir Sadiq Khan and Rachel Reeves, with the Mayor said to be furious that there is unlikely to be any support for key transport projects.
A source close to the mayor said on Monday that ministers "must not return to the damaging, anti-London approach of the last government".
Councils, housing associations and charities in London are also concerned that the city will be overlooked as Labour instead splashes cash in parts of the country where Nigel Farage's Reform UK are making inroads.
Here is what London is hoping for in the spending review:
Transport
Transport for London (TfL) says it needs billions of pounds to tackle an “historic backlog” in repairs. These include the problems that led to months of delays on the Central line last year and which has forced roads around Brent Cross to be closed.
This year TfL has not publicly said how much it is seeking, but it previously sought £500m a year. Last year it received £485m, including £24m for 10 new Elizabeth line trains.
Transport bosses want to be able to place an order for a new fleet of Bakerloo trains – to replace a 52-year-old fleet – by the end of 2026 and extend the line.
Plans for signalling upgrades to the Piccadilly line and the DLR extension to Thamesmead, which are currently unfunded, have also been presented to minsters.
Upgrades are desperately needed at South Kensington tube station.
The terminal is London’s 13th busiest with 30 million journeys every year and it is the gateway to some of the capital’s most visited sights, including the Natural History Museum and V&A.
But TfL estimates another 500,000 journeys do not go through the station because it has no step free access.
It won its battle to redevelop the Grade-II listed building in 2023 and the plans include 50 new homes, offices and restaurants and a building dubbed “The Bullnose” because of its distinctive shape.
However, the development cannot go ahead until vital upgrades are made, including making the station step-free and adding a new accessible entrance on Thurloe Street. A disused platform will also be brought back into use to improve capacity.
The cost of these improvements is about £110m, with the project needing around £60m from Government in the spending review.
Housing
One in 21 children in the capital are homeless and London councils collectively spend £4m a day on temporary accommodation. Demand for affordable housing, particularly family-sized homes, is far outstripping supply. A March 2025 survey suggested 28% of renters were spending more than half their take-home pay on rent, while 80% were spending more than 30%.
London has a target to build 80,000 homes a year. In 2024/25 just 4,708 new affordable home builds were started - down from 13,744 two years earlier, according to the G15 group of not-for-profit housing associations in London.
Ian McDermott, Chief Executive of Peabody and Chair of G15, said: "New housing starts in London have already fallen off a cliff and it looks like we could be heading towards the lowest housing delivery numbers since the Second World War. New funding and significant policy change is needed to prevent what would be a catastrophic collapse in the supply of new social and affordable homes by the end of this parliament."
He has argued that the government should provide "long-term certainty through a fair and consistent rent policy", full access for not-for-profit housing associations to the £5bn Building Safety Fund and reclassify social housing as "essential infrastructure" so the country can unlock billions in public and private investment.
Police
Met Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has been publicly lobbying the Chancellor for more money.
He was among six UK police chiefs who warned that without more investment the government will fail to meet its target to bring down crime, amid suggestions that the Home Office is set to face cuts in the spending review.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has made it his government’s mission to halve knife crime and create “safer streets” by hiring thousands more officers.
But Sir Mark said this would be impossible without more funding.
The Home Office is understood to be privately arguing that police numbers must be maintained for the government to deliver its policy commitments, but that under the current spending proposals this would not happen.
The Treasury has reportedly offered above inflation increases to police funding in each of the next three years.
Local Authorities
London councils are being driven to the brink of bankruptcy by the costs of housing homeless families as well as spiralling social care costs.
Seven boroughs - Barnet, Croydon, Enfield, Haringey, Havering, Newham and Lambeth - this year applied for emergency government funding to balance the books. Collectively the capital's local authorities face a £500m deficit this year, according to umbrella group London Councils.
The groups chair and Lambeth council leader Claire Holland said boroughs needed "as much money as the government can afford" in the spending review to prevent a "crisis".
Councils are asking for emergency funding for temporary accommodation, homelessness and adults and children's social care pressures, investment in housing and infrastructure and funding to invest in prevention.
