Four London boroughs carried out maintenance treatment on less than 1% of their minor roads in the year to March 2026, according to Department for Transport figures, against 3.0% across England.
Lambeth recorded 0.0%, Islington 0.3%, Hounslow 0.4% and Southwark 0.9%. They were among 21 highway authorities in England below 1%, identified by GM Rides, a London private hire and airport transfer firm, in an analysis of the figures sent to newsrooms on 20 October 2026.
The figures, in table RDC0321 published on 14 October 2026, cover strengthening, resurfacing and preservation work on B, C and unclassified roads between April 2025 and March 2026. Lambeth also recorded 0.0% on its local A roads. The department publishes the percentages to one decimal place, and as GM Rides points out, a figure of 0.0% does not establish that no maintenance took place.
Across the capital
The City of London treated the largest share of its minor roads of any London council, at 9.1% of its 35 km network. Harrow followed with 4.3%, Kensington and Chelsea with 4.0% and Brent with 3.9%.
On local A roads, Barking and Dagenham treated 17.2%, Harrow 15.3% and Merton 13.7%, against 6.9% across England.
GM Rides found that 65 of the 152 authorities in the table treated less than 2% of their minor roads. It said the England figure rose to 3.0% from 2.9% the year before, but remained below the 4.3% recorded in 2017.
What the figures do and do not show
The percentages measure the length of road treated as a share of each council’s network. They do not take account of the width or depth of the work, are not a count of pothole repairs, and do not on their own show the condition of the roads or how much work was needed. Councils can revise the figures the following year.