Work and Money

As east London urbanises and becomes a more desirable place to live, a partnership between the eight Thames Gateway boroughs promises to deliver more housing to the region, particularly by taking advantage of funding in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.

Between 2000 and 2005, more than 23,000 new homes were built in the Thames Gateway – an area stretching from Tower Bridge to Bexley in South-East London.

But National Audit Office figures show that the rate of house building needs to be increased. At the current rate, the Thames Gateway could end up with a shortfall of 65,000 homes by 2016.

Regenerating the waterfront

There are targets to build 3,510 new homes in Newham and 3,150 in Tower Hamlets every year.

How Stepney could look by 2009

Town centres that will undergo regeneration include the Isle of Dogs, Stratford, and Brownfield areas enjoying regeneration include Convoys Wharf, Leamouth and Silvertown.

New Providence Wharf in Leamouth and Barratt’s Elektron, both near Canary Wharf, are examples of new luxury developments that are springing up across the boroughs on derelict, industrial land. They both contain hundreds of high-rise waterfront properties, most of which are one and two-bedroom apartments costing in excess of £300,000.

The Grand Union Place development in Stepney, due to be completed in 2008, will have 524 new houses and apartments for a range of family sizes and tenures. It claims to be the largest timber frame construction in Europe.

Good-looking, affordable housing

According to Rona Nicholson from the National Affordable Housing Programme, 42 per cent of all socially rented homes in London should aim to have three or more bedrooms. English Partnerships, a national regeneration agency, aims to create 1,500 affordable homes for key workers across London by 2010.

Other priorities include meeting energy efficiency targets and maximising the quality of housing design. The May 2007 William’s Report on the design of affordable housing in the Thames Gateway stated, "social housing providers should do as they have always done on the broader design front: lead the way."

Proposed Payne Road development

In Bow, for example, a listed former Victorian chocolate factory on Payne Road is being converted into 158 flats as part of a £25m affordable housing scheme.

Stephen Oakes, who works for English Partnerships, says it is important to "create communities where people can afford to live and want to live," which includes improving the quality of existing towns as well as creating new urban centres with good transport links.

Extensions to the DLR and East London line will be completed after 2009, promising to increase the number of people choosing to live in the further reaches of Newham and Tower Hamlets.

What kind of new homes would you like to see? Email angela.saini@bbc.co.uk