Tower Hamlets leads legal fight over affordable housing cuts

Across London, families are languishing on housing waiting lists, children are growing up in overcrowded, temporary accommodation, and more than one million people are trapped in overcrowded homes or homes unfit for human habitation because of damp, mould, or pests.

One in every 21 children in London is homeless – at least one homeless child in every classroom.

Yet at a time when London desperately needs more affordable homes, not fewer, the Mayor of London is proposing to slash the affordable housing quota for new developments from 35% to just 20%.

Tower Hamlets has launched legal action to stop these cuts.

We have been joined by Hackney Council and Lewisham Council and backed by four further councils - Lambeth, Southwark, Haringey, and Waltham Forest.

Even Labour-led Islington Council has passed a motion joining our opposition to these cuts.

Together, we are standing up for the principle that the homes our communities desperately need must be prioritised over the profits of developers.

Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman is challenging proposed cuts to affordable housing targets (Image: Tower Hamlets Council)

I am proud that Tower Hamlets is leading the way in tackling London’s housing crisis.

Since 2022, we have delivered, or are currently delivering, 6,400 affordable and social rent homes and committed £609 million to improving existing council homes.

Despite building more homes than any other London borough since 2013, however, more than 31,000 people remain on our housing waiting list and around 5,500 children are living in temporary accommodation.

The need for more affordable housing has never been greater.

That is why the proposal to slash affordable housing requirements is simply unthinkable.

Our legal challenge is already having an impact.

In response, City Hall has announced a concession, recognising the benefits of allowing councils to set more ambitious affordable housing targets that reflect local circumstances and acknowledging the high levels of affordable housing already being delivered by boroughs such as Tower Hamlets.

But these proposals do not go far enough.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, would continue with his damaging cut to 20% until 2028, costing London thousands of affordable homes over the next two years alone - homes that, once lost, we will never get back.

We remain ready to work constructively with the Greater London Authority to increase housebuilding across our capital.

But we will not stop fighting for the genuinely affordable homes our residents need.

• Lutfur Rahman is the mayor of Tower Hamlets.