About the Mayor's Accelerated Housing Programme
A major housing opportunity
Tower Hamlets faces an acute and growing need for new homes, particularly genuinely affordable, family-sized housing.
The Mayor’s Accelerated Housing Programme is a ground-breaking, borough-wide programme that will unlock at least 42 sites and deliver more than 3,000 homes, with a minimum 51% affordable.
This represents a significant and sustained pipeline of commercial opportunities for developers, contractors, development partners and SMEs.
Opportunities will range from smaller sites, where organisations can deliver alongside an established professional team, to major strategic sites requiring experienced partners with the capability to lead independently through design, planning and delivery.
The initial commercial opportunity is the first stage of this wider programme, inviting the market to help deliver high-quality, sustainable homes and lasting benefits for communities across Tower Hamlets.
Frequently asked questions
Who will fund the affordable housing?
The Council has budgeted for the cost of delivering the first batch of affordable homes (subject to confirmation of grant funding from the GLA's London Affordable Homes Programme (LAHP).
Future phases will be funded by a mix of Council funding, further LAHP grant funding, and cross-subsidy from market housing delivered as part of the Mayor's Accelerated Housing Programme (MAHP).
The Council is also keen to hear from institutional investors with an interest in providing long-term funding for affordable homes delivered through the MAHP and its other programmes.
Who will manage the affordable housing?
The Council would prefer to manage the affordable housing itself.
For that reason, we have developed proposals for each site on the basis that affordable and market housing will be delivered in separate blocks, allowing developers flexibility over management arrangements for private blocks.
Is the Council open to alternative options to market sale housing?
Yes, we understand that developers might want to propose alternative models, including rental products. The Council's key objective is to deliver the affordable housing and to optimise the balance between the level of cross-subsidy generated and the timing and certainty of receipts.