Hammersmith and Fulham Council is set to introduce a Lane Rental Scheme in 2026, potentially charging utility companies between £1,000 and £2,500 per day for roadworks on 50 key roads. The Economy, Arts, Sports, and Public Realm Policy and Accountability Committee (PAC) discussed the scheme at their meeting on Monday 21 July 2025.

The scheme aims to minimise disruption from roadworks by charging a daily fee for work on key roads between 7am and 7pm. The council hopes to have the scheme operational between April and October 2026, pending approval from the Department of Transport.

The council manages a high volume of roadworks, processing around 30,000 permit transactions annually, relating to approximately 17,000 works on the borough's roads and footways. A significant portion of these works, around 60%, are carried out by public utilities, while the remaining 40% are undertaken by the council and its contractors.

According to the Highway Works Management Coordination 21 July PAC report, the Lane Rental Scheme seeks to protect key roads and routes from being saturated with road works. The report outlines the proposed enhancements to the London Permit Scheme, known as the Lane Rental Scheme, which aims to provide additional protection for 50 of the borough's key roads. These roads, listed in Appendix 1, include Askew Road, Fulham High Street, King Street, Shepherd's Bush Green, and Wood Lane.

While the specific criteria used to determine which roads are considered 'key roads' are not detailed in the provided text, the Highway Works Management Coordination 21 July PAC report states that the Lane Rental Scheme seeks to protect key roads and routes from being saturated with road works.

The Highway Works Management Coordination 21 July PAC report also highlights the success of similar schemes elsewhere, stating: Transport for London has operated a Lane Rental Scheme for several years and in the counties Kent, Surrey and West Sussex are also successfully running Lane Rental Schemes. The report further notes that Existing Lane Rental schemes have proven to incentivise positive change and reduce disruption on the roads. The benefits include: Less roadworks on the busiest roads with a reduced impact on traffic. Reduction in days roadworks occupy key roads. Improvements to air quality by reducing congestion. Reduction in negative economic impact to local businesses. Improved bus journey times.

The programme to implement the Lane Rental Scheme includes:

  • Consultation during August/September 2025.
  • Review of feedback from stakeholders completed end September 2025
  • Final development of scheme documents and application September 2025.
  • Application to run the scheme submitted to the Department of Transport from the 1st of October 2025.
  • Earliest start date for the scheme would be the 1st April 2026

Hammersmith and Fulham Council, as the Highway Authority, has a statutory duty to manage the highway network and minimise disruption from roadworks, as set out in the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 and the Traffic Management Act 2004.