Nearly 200 more homes are being added to Tower Hamlets Council's social rent house building programme using a £32m cash handout from City Hall to help tackle the chronic shortage.
The funding is to pay for 194 additional properties on top of the council's current long-term construction programme.
“This is a huge endorsement for our plans to tackle the housing crisis,” mayor John Biggs said. “We’ve secured extra funding for our programme towards 2,000 new homes.”
The authority isn’t relying on major housing schemes to meet the demand, turning instead to smaller developments to fill the gap.
Cllr Danny Hassell, cabinet member for housing, revealed: “We won’t reach our target with just big developments. So we’re making the most of land that we already own for smaller projects to build homes to help provide social housing to those who need it.”
The City Hall cash is from a £3.46 billion package the mayor of London Sadiq Khan secured from the government for more council and other low-rent homes across London.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here