On London Extra: Markets crash

The move to Dagenham is off. What does that mean? Plus borough housing failings, urban farming, exporting homelessness and more

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During the 2019 general election campaign, I went to see Jon Cruddas, at that time MP for Dagenham & Rainham. He told me constituents were excited that London's three historic wholesale food markets, Billingsgate (fish), Smithfield (meat) and New Spitalfields (fruit, veg and flowers), were to be relocated to a single site at Dagenham Dock. Many local people felt connected to their histories, he explained.

But in November 2022 the City of London Corporation, which owns the markets, said it was "unable to give a timeline" for New Spitalfields to make the move. And although it also said it expected Smithfield and Billingsgate to be in their new outer London home by 2027 or 2028, with New Spitalfields to follow, the cost of building the Dagenham Dock facility was soaring.

By this summer, rumours were circulating that the wheels were coming off. And this month, we've seen that happen. First, the City announced that the Billingsgate and Smithfield move had been halted pending a review. And this week it has confirmed that both of those markets will be closing forever in 2028.

So: no move to Dagenham and two of the markets to disappear after hundreds of years. What does it all mean?