The Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, has responded to the Mayor of London's concession announced today, which comes just weeks after Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Lewisham councils launched a legal challenge against the decision to slash the affordable housing quotas from 35 per cent to 20 per cent.
The new proposal from the Mayor of London would exempt Tower Hamlets and several other boroughs from the proposed reduction in affordable housing requirements. Mayor Rahman says “today’s announcement demonstrates the impact of our legal challenge” but “does not go far enough”, and that pressing ahead with the ‘emergency measures’ until 2028 “would mean losing thousands of affordable homes over the next two years - homes which, once lost, we will never get back”.
Tower Hamlets, alongside Hackney and Lewisham, launched legal proceedings at the High Court against the Greater London Authority challenging the proposed policy change, with Lambeth, Southwark, Waltham Forest and Haringey formally supporting the action.
Mayor Rahman contends that City Hall has accepted the “fundamental premise of the arguments we have advanced in our Judicial Review claim” as this proposal recognises “the benefits of allowing councils to set 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".
London continues to face a severe housing crisis, with social housing waiting lists at their highest level in a decade and record numbers of families living in temporary accommodation. Local authorities have consistently argued that reducing affordable housing requirements risks making it even harder for residents to access genuinely affordable homes.
Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, said:
“Today’s announcement demonstrates the impact of our legal challenge to stop the Mayor of London slashing the affordable housing quota from 35% to just 20%. Just weeks after we launched legal proceedings, City Hall has made this concession, accepting the fundamental premise of the arguments we have advanced in our Judicial Review claim, brought jointly with Hackney and Lewisham councils and backed by seven councils across London.
“City Hall is now recognising the benefits of allowing councils to set 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. This is precisely what would be prevented by a blanket cut to 20%."
“However, these proposals do not go far enough. Without any clear justification, City Hall would still press ahead with its devastating ‘emergency measures’ until 2028. That would mean losing thousands of affordable homes over the next two years - homes which, once lost, we will never get back, while hundreds of thousands of families languish on housing waiting lists and one million Londoners are trapped in overcrowded or uninhabitable accommodation.
“We remain ready to engage constructively with the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority. We will continue to stand up for the principle that major planning policy changes must be subject to proper scrutiny, meaningful consultation and democratic accountability. At a time when one in every 21 children in London is homeless—at least one homeless child in every classroom—we cannot stand by while developers’ profits are prioritised over the genuinely affordable homes our communities so desperately need."
Posted on Thursday 16th July 2026