By David Joyce, Corporate Director of Housing and Regeneration, London Borough of Tower Hamlets

We often talk about the housing emergency but many of our responses can take years to lead to any sort of meaningful contribution to tackling it

Estate regeneration, new-build schemes and repurposing existing buildings all have an important role to play but can take a number of years to come to fruition. That’s why acquisition programmes have become such an important focus for Tower Hamlets and other councils like us.

In Tower Hamlets, we have a long track record of using acquisitions to provide a faster solution to the very real pressures we face. Our most recent programme (started in 2024), which encompassed both MHCLG and CHAP funding, focused on family-sized homes and bringing our previous right to buy stock back into the council’s portfolio.

I’m delighted that we hit our target to deliver 237 acquisitions by the April 2026 deadline our funding partners had set. We’re now embarking on the next phase of the programme but as we hit this milestone it’s worth reflecting on why it matters so much.

Increasing the supply of affordable housing is a significant priority for the borough. There are currently: 31,000 households on the council’s housing register; 13,209 households living in overcrowded conditions (with 2,668 severely overcrowded); 3,220 households are living in temporary accommodation; and 602 households require rehousing due to medical needs.

This results in prolonged waiting times, particularly for those in lower priority bands, who often struggle to find suitable housing locally, and puts pressure on finances.  To alleviate this, we needed a faster supply of housing within our stock, which is why our Buyback programme is so beneficial to the borough’s residents.

The programme offers value for money by enabling shorter delivery times for temporary and permanent housing. It also provides financial value, efficiently leveraging funding without the excessive costs associated with new construction and, crucially, increases our housing supply more quickly.  And it generates rental income almost instantaneously, from the point of investment, which helps the sustainability of our housing revenue account.

In terms of management, by acquiring previously council-owned stock we’ve been able to substantially mitigate our temporary accommodation costs (currently £25 million a year) by repurposing it for homeless families, saving us expensive accommodation fees.

For the scheme to work, the council procured the services of experienced RICS valuers to ensure that our leaseholders received a fair and reasonable purchase price from an independent source.

Customer service is always at the forefront of our minds and the leaseholders who sold us their property benefited from a free valuation and flexibility on appointment times.  Our brilliant Buyback project team were always on hand to answer any questions and provide information to help ensure a seamless process.

While the programme was successful, it wasn’t without operational challenges. These included meeting issues around space standards, as not all properties met the size criteria required by the funding, and managing leaseholder expectations where RICS and estate agent valuations differed. Understandably, people were seeking to achieve the highest possible sale price.

We also encountered issues with undisclosed tenancies, unauthorised alterations, illegal subletting and inconsistent property standards. These were addressed through robust internal processes, close collaboration across teams and the introduction of a standardised finishes schedule. The marketing campaign also generated a far greater response than anticipated, which we managed effectively by introducing an online register of interest.

The homes we’ve acquired are making a huge difference. I’ve seen firsthand the difference for families who are no longer placed out of borough in inadequate, temporary homes. Some families in TA have been moved more than 10 times – consider what that could mean for your family and the difference programmes like this make in ending that uncertainty.

The programme purchased properties ranging from two-bedroom homes right up to a seven-bedroom apartment which is benefiting a large family on a permanent tenancy.  The programme also included housing under the Afghan Resettlement Scheme, focusing on family-sized homes.

The council has successfully secured funding for a four- year MHCLG programme starting in 2026-2030 to purchase 123 homes within the borough. We’ve also submitted a bid to the GLA for a long-term CHAP programme.

My thanks to our brilliant team and our funders who help make it happen – the difference this makes to families in our borough is almost impossible to calculate.