Planning policy and guidance
The council’s planning guidance consists of a series of documents that provide a positive approach to managing development by helping to assess planning applications and create a more vibrant, sustainable community to improve quality of life for all.
The Development Plan for Tower Hamlets includes the
Until the adoption of the new Tower Hamlets Local Plan, the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) Plan also forms part of the Development Plan for Hackney Wick, Fish Island and Bromley-by-Bow.
The Development Plan is also influenced by the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which sets out strategic policies for development and growth within England.
The policies we use to decide planning applications
- Neighbourhood planning enables the community to guide development in their local area through neighbourhood forums and neighbourhood plan documents.
- Monitoring and programme reporting provides further detail on the performance of council policies, deliverable housing sites and a project plan for emerging documents, through an annual monitoring report, Five Year Supply of Deliverable Housing Sites and Local Development Scheme (LDS)
- Upcoming projects
New Local Plan (Preparation for submission)
The plan-making team has moved to the next stage in adopting a new Local Plan. It will guide development in the borough until 2038.
We published the draft Local Plan and invited comments as per Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) Regulations 2012. This is the final draft we plan to submit to the Secretary of State for review later this year in 2024 or early 2024.
Regulation 19 representations were collected over a six-week period (13 September to October 2024). Further to this, the plan-making team is now reviewing these representations for submission alongside the draft Local Plan.
For more information on the council's compliance with the legal, procedural and soundness aspects of this stage of plan-making, see the emerging local plan.
London Legacy Development Corporation
The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) came into being on 1 April 2012. It is the local planning authority for the Olympic Park and surrounding neighbourhoods including Hackney Wick, Bromley-by-Bow and Fish Island.
Planning powers have now been returned from the LLDC to Tower Hamlets. All planning applications will be determined by Tower Hamlets, but the LLDC Plan and supplementary planning documents will remain in force for the area formerly covered by the LLDC until they are superseded by a new Tower Hamlets Local Plan.
More information about this can be found on the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) page.
Further information
You can email the team at localplan@towerhamlets.gov.uk or talk to us by phoning 020 7364 5009.
If you would like to be kept informed about local planning policy updates, please email us to join our mailing list.