Tower Hamlets Council's Cabinet has approved plans for a new Idea Store and One Stop Shop in Bethnal Green as part of the Mayor's Accelerated Housing Programme (MAHP).
The decision, made at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, 15 July 2026, allocated a capital budget of £5,719,522 from the General Fund for the development, which will be situated within the Bethnal Green PDC development.
The MAHP aims to deliver over 3,000 new homes across 42 sites, with at least 51% designated as affordable housing. The Bethnal Green development is one component of this wider programme, which seeks to address the borough's acute housing needs.
Beyond the Bethnal Green project, the MAHP encompasses numerous other sites across the borough. These include Tent Street, Tomlinson Close, Southern Grove, Chisenhale, Back Church Lane, Strout's Place/Hackney Road, 33-37 The Oval, Gill Street, Vallance Road, Lark Row, Butcher Row, Waterloo Gardens, Pigott Street, Frimley Way, White Horse Lane, 82 Mile End Road, Ashington House, Globe & Portman Place, Bromley Street, Russia Lane, Hale Street, 20 Three Colt Street, Chandler Street, 109a Antill Road, Limehouse Youth Centre, St Anne's Row, Barley Mow Veterans Club, Byron Street/Langdon Park School, Shadwell Basin, Shadwell Centre, 70-90 Chrisp Street, 4 Ravenscroft Street, Blackwall Depot, Commercial Road, Ensign Club and Shapla, John Onslow House, John Orwell Sports Centre, Bromley Hall School, Sir John McDougal Park Keeper's Cottage, Jack Dash House, and Blackwall Reach Phase 3.
The commitment to affordable housing within the MAHP is substantial. For the initial phase of 10 sites delivering 341 homes, 241 will be social rented homes and 79 will be shared ownership homes. Further details indicate that 250 of the 349 homes in the delivery plan will be affordable, with 241 of these being social rented. In Batch 1, 79% of homes are designated as social rented by habitable room. Batch 2 projects approximately 449 homes, with 331 social rented homes (73% social rented by habitable room). For Batch 3, the target is at least 35% affordable homes by habitable room.
The full details of the council's decision can be found in the public reports pack for the Cabinet meeting on 15 July 2026.
