London & borough projections

• The number of households in Tower Hamlets is projected to increase from 78,500 in 2001 by 34% to 105,368 in 2016

There were 3.1 million households in London in 2001. Based on the latest available projections and estimates, London’s population increase of 800,000 to 2016 could lead to an increase of 336,000 households (or family units) over the next 15 years.

The target numbers for new households for all London boroughs comes from The Greater London Authority’s London Plan. The target for number of new homes within Tower Hamlets is 41,280 between 1997-2016 or 2070 per year. The targets are set to meet housing need and demand, in terms of location, type of development and impact on the locality as set out in the GLA’s Housing Capacity Study. Provision for additional ‘homes’ targets for the period 1997-2016 have been incorporated into individual borough Unitary Development Plans (UDPs) based on The Housing Capacity Study and fertility and migration patterns in each borough.

These figures deal only with growth however, not the existing shortage of housing. The Housing Commission has estimated that 112,200 existing households would need a new home over this 15 year period. This would mean 11,200 additional dwellings a year in order to achieve the Mayor’s objective of meeting this need.