Is al fresco dining coming back to Soho?

Dear Londoners — welcome to your Monday briefing. The glorious weather looks set to continue for the foreseeable (let's try not to think about the climate change-related reasons for why this might be...) and everything feels, well, a bit nicer — people are happier, nights are longer, grass is greener. Even the trees seem to agree, shaking off their blossom and bursting into verdancy. It's hard to argue that this isn't the city at its absolute best.

The only downside of the sunshine is the lack of places in Central to sit back and enjoy it in. Famously, Soho opened up for al fresco dining during the Covid pandemic — if a Sunday existed where I wasn't sunning myself outside Bar Italia with a Punt e Mes and soda, then I'm not sure I remember it — only for the scheme to end in September 2021, the result of a concerted campaign by local residents. But after an announcement from the mayor on Friday, all of that could be set to change. Read on to find out exactly what we know about the proposals so far.

But before that, I wanted to say a big thank you and welcome to our new supporters. We're so glad you've made the choice to join us — and there's no way we could do this without you.

— Hannah, The Londoner editor

Big story: Is al fresco dining set to permanently return to Soho?

Topline: Get ready for aperitivo hour — al fresco dining, as well as later opening times for clubs, pubs and bars, is coming back to the capital under new plans from City Hall. The pilot scheme would allow it to overrule council licensing decisions, a move that’s certain to be controversial. We’ve been speaking to sources to bring you the inside track on the new decision.

The context: Announcing the policy at an event alongside chancellor Rachel Reeves on Friday, Sadiq Khan said it was mad that the city was currently “hotter than Ibiza” but had next to zero al fresco eating and drinking offerings. During Covid, outdoor street dining exploded in the capital, particularly in areas like Soho. But after the pandemic, it pretty much ended — due in large part to complaints from locals. 

In Soho specifically, local venues fought heavily to keep the al fresco dining arrangements in place, but faced fierce opposition from the Soho Society, a collection of local residents, who saw the noise and traffic disruption as a “betrayal”. Westminster Council eventually sided with the Soho Society and killed outdoor dining in Soho in September 2021, but the saga was seen as a key reason why Labour took the borough from the Tories for the first time in 2022 — and could be the reason they lose it in 2026. 

Why does London need it?: City Hall hopes this new policy will allow it to intervene when it judges that a local council is prioritising the complaints of a few residents over the thousands of other Londoners who enjoy eating outside or having venues open later. The Londoner has previously investigated how baseless complaints about a venue can lead to their licences being reviewed. We found, for example, that one in every hundred pubs in the capital almost shut or had its hours limited in 2024 for noise complaints as trivial as "faint giggles" or hypothetical "honking" from traffic.

The lack of formal powers to intervene in licensing disputes has been a long-running frustration for the mayor, with figures at City Hall seeking greater authority in this sphere for over a decade. Historically, it left officials, such as former night tsar Amy Lamé, unable to do much more than send letters to councils on behalf of individual venues trying to influence their decisions. These soft powers were far from consistent, but councils have been resolute about maintaining their rights to manage venue licences.

What will the new plans do?: As it’s still being drawn up, there are at present few concrete details on how the scheme will actually work. But it’ll likely mirror the mayor’s powers to intervene and “call in” certain strategic planning decisions made by local councils. In practice, this may mean that in major decisions, like al fresco dining in Soho — or in particularly egregious individual disputes over noise — the mayor would be able to overrule a local council. If these powers are seen as a success in London, then they could be used as a blueprint for regional mayors in cities across the country.

Any roadblocks?: As with the plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street, the decision has brought the mayor to loggerheads with Westminster Council, who stressed to the London Standard that they “grant the vast majority of licensing applications”. While the council is currently run by Labour, it has a majority of just two seats — and fears of losing seats in the West End over hyperlocal (and well organised) opposition to City Hall’s plans mean the council is unlikely to be happy about the latest announcement.

When will it happen?: The hope from City Hall is for the policy to come into play imminently. The mayor’s new nightlife taskforce is going to spend six weeks designing how the pilot scheme will function before it’s put before parliament and passed by the government as a Bill, a process that often takes around two months. All going smoothly, these changes may be in play by the end of summer. Fingers crossed for a sunny September…

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