ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

London's population could soar by a further four million and “irreversibly” change the character of many parts of the city, one of the capital’s most senior political leaders warned today.

Lord True, Conservative leader of Richmond council, called for a public debate on whether “broad limits” should be adopted for the capital’s size. “Do Londoners actually support a surge to an international megalopolis with building on demand?” he asked.

He revealed that London town hall chiefs were recently briefed about population projections for the city and that upper-end yet “feasible” forecasts included 13 million by 2050.

This would be a rise of around 50 per cent on the current population of over 8.5 million. It could require 200,000 more homes in south-west London alone, Lord True added, or two boroughs the size of Sutton or Kingston.

“Such population and housing growth would irreversibly change the character of many parts of London,” he told Parliament. “I do not mean in terms of people… but in the quality and character of public services and the built environment.

"Where will we find the transport, health provision, schools and, indeed, the open spaces to support that growth?”

The peer suggested it was “high time” that the “consent” of Londoners was sought over how big the city should become.

“We need to know if the public wants to see broad limits on the growth of the population and the overall size of London,” he also told the Standard.

His intervention sparked an immediate debate among mayoral candidates, City Hall and business chiefs.

Boris Johnson and Labour’s Sadiq Khan oppose limits on the capital’s population.

The Mayor believes London’s “incredible” population boom is “testament to the fact that it is one of the best cities in the world to live in, work and visit, with a thriving economy, a low crime rate and a roaring cultural scene”.

A spokesman for him added: “The Mayor is working tirelessly to deliver the infrastructure that the city will need in order to combine growth and prosperity with sustainability and a high quality of life.”

Mr Khan said: “The answer to our expanding population is not to discourage or stop people from working and pursuing their dreams here, but to ensure our housing and transport system is properly equipped for the next 50 years.”

He warned, though, that if far more “genuinely affordable” homes were not built across the capital Londoners would be “priced out of their own city”.

Green Party candidate Sian Berry backed the capital’s population growing to 10 million strong city, but added:“Beyond that we’d have to question whether further overheating London was the best thing for the city and for the UK.”

She warned against moving towards “extremes of high-rise living” and said Germany has a much more evenly spread set of “successful” large cities.

Conservative Zac Goldsmith said: “Lord True is absolutely correct that we must ensure new developments come alongside new provision of schools, hospitals and Tube links.”

He pledged, if elected Mayor, that he would double the current rate of house-building to deliver desperately-needed homes.

Baroness Valentine, chief executive of business group London First, hailed London as the “de facto capital of Europe” and opposed “artificial restraints” which she argued would be in no-one’s interest.

“If we try to constrain the capital, we won’t create some utopia but a low-energy economy that goes into decline, with jobs lost and living standards falling,” she said.

“We’ve been there before in the post-war period.”

Lord True is not suggesting a rigid “cap” but believes a public debate is needed on a “sustainable London” and whether a “broad” limit or target for the city’s size is needed.

The Home Counties should also be consulted over London growth, he added, as the city may need to expand beyond the boundaries of Greater London and planning and fiscal measures would have to be considered.

Lib-Dem mayoral candidate Caroline Pidgeon said the City Hall election “is the perfect place to have the debate Lord True wants.”