Tower Hamlets Council has approved plans to turn four former office buildings at Canary Wharf into 180 family-sized homes for households currently living in temporary accommodation.
The cabinet decision, taken on Wednesday 21 October, covers 191, 193, 195 and 197 Marsh Wall, at Thames Quay, close to South Quay DLR station. The buildings, which previously housed offices including a former Lyca Mobile base, would provide 167 two-bedroom flats and 13 three-bedroom homes.
The point of the scheme is to cut the borough’s reliance on costly nightly-paid temporary accommodation, and on placing families outside Tower Hamlets. Council papers say up to 180 families now housed outside the borough could be brought back under the plan, putting them closer to the schools, jobs and support networks they already use.
The scale of the pressure is stark. The borough is currently providing temporary accommodation for around 3,100 households, including roughly 2,700 families, and homelessness demand is rising by about 11 per cent a year. Like other London boroughs, Tower Hamlets has seen the cost of nightly-paid rooms climb sharply, with fewer affordable homes available for families who need them most.
Under the approval, council officers are authorised to finalise negotiations and lease terms for the buildings, to obtain an independent rental valuation, to appoint consultants and contractors, and to begin preparatory work on the conversion. The arrangement would run on a 10-year lease, funded through general fund borrowing.
The council is unusually frank about the money. Its own documents acknowledge that the scheme is not expected to be cheaper than the temporary accommodation it replaces: over the 10-year lease, the cost is expected to be higher than current temporary accommodation spending, and the deal carries financial risk. The case for going ahead rests not on savings, but on what officers describe as wider benefits for the families involved.
Those benefits are the heart of the argument. A child placed in temporary accommodation miles from home can lose touch with school friends, while parents can find themselves far from work, healthcare and family support. A settled, family-sized home inside the borough, the council argues, is worth more than a cheaper bed somewhere else, even if the lease itself costs more.
Executive Mayor Lutfur Rahman said: “Every family deserves a safe and secure place to live close to their communities, schools and support networks.” He said bringing the buildings into council use would create around 180 family-sized homes and help reduce dependence on expensive nightly accommodation.
Cabinet member for finance, assets and governance, Cllr Abu Talha Chowdhury, said councils across London face “unprecedented pressures” from rising homelessness and the cost of temporary accommodation. The plan, he said, makes strategic use of existing buildings while delivering better value for residents in the round.
The scheme centres on the four Canary Wharf office blocks previously identified for family housing. The latest decision moves the project from acquisition to delivery, with the conversion work and lease terms now to be settled in detail.
It also sits alongside a wider London picture. Boroughs across the capital are wrestling with the same problem: temporary accommodation bills rising faster than budgets, and families waiting longer for settled homes. Croydon, for example, has approved a four-year plan to cut its own temporary accommodation use and save money in the process, a reminder that every borough is hunting for a model that works.
What happens next is practical rather than ceremonial. Officers will secure the independent valuation, appoint the consultants and contractors needed for the conversion, and start the preparatory work. No move-in date has been published, and the homes will only become available once the lease and the building work are complete. For the families waiting, though, the direction of travel is now clear: the council wants them back in the borough, in homes big enough for family life, rather than in nightly-paid rooms wherever a bed can be found.
