The Housing & Regeneration Scrutiny Sub Committee scheduled a meeting to discuss a number of reports, including updates on the local plan, a review of commercial assets, a social landlords performance report, and the anti-social behaviour strategy. The meeting was also scheduled to review the action log from previous meetings.

Local Plan Update

The Housing & Regeneration Scrutiny Sub-Committee was scheduled to receive an update on the new local plan. According to the report pack, a local plan is the borough's most important and influential planning document because it guides development, directs land use, balances council priorities and informs the assessment of planning applications.

The council is required to update its local plan every five years to reflect the ambitions of the council, respond to changes in national and regional guidance, and address factors such as the housing crisis, climate crisis, the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, Brexit, and the cost of living. The new local plan is also intended to address the needs of an increased population and plan for areas being brought back from the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC).

The emerging local plan proposes new policy requirements, including:

• Increasing the requirement for affordable housing from 35% to 40%, with a tenure split of 85% social rent and 15% intermediate homes.
• Taking a more permissive approach to tall buildings by introducing Zone F and removing specified appropriate heights from some Tall Building Zones.
• Additional site allocations with specific requirements and aspirations.
• A more progressive 'Energy Usage Intensity' (EUI) approach to energy efficiency.
• Seeking to exceed the national 10% biodiversity net gain requirement.
• Increased water efficiency requirements.
• A policy to manage waste and meet the London Plan waste apportionment at a local level.
• Policies to address new emerging uses such as co-living, data centres and life sciences.

The report pack noted that the Greater London Authority (GLA) had objected to the 40% affordable housing threshold, but not the tenure split, while developers raised concerns about the impact of additional policy requirements on viability. Historic England suggested that Zone F for tall buildings was too expansive and the assessment of impacts was inadequate.

Review of Commercial Assets

The Housing & Regeneration Scrutiny Sub-Committee was scheduled to discuss a Scrutiny Challenge Session Report on Leveraging Commercial Assets for Borough Regeneration. The report included six recommendations:

1. Review the council's approval process for new commercial tenants to speed up the process.
2. Review the resources allocated to staff the Asset Management Team to ensure vacant commercial properties are rented out as soon as possible and, where possible, look to bring more services in-house.
3. Develop performance metrics that measure success and build a lessons learned log capturing insights from residents on previous and existing regeneration projects.
4. Significantly improve the council's working relationship with the private sector and wider partners to promote regeneration in the borough and give targeted need to the area being regenerated.
5. Undertake further reviews to understand the reasons for long term vacancy and tenants leaving properties.
6. Review the transparency on details of vacancies and consider new ways to make it easier to get info on how to rent commercial properties.

The report noted that Tower Hamlets had the fastest-growing population of any local authority area across England and Wales, with a 22.1% increase between 2011 and 2021. It also stated that 19.2% of the population was income-deprived in 2019, ranking Tower Hamlets as the 22nd most income-deprived local authority in England.

The committee's review focused on how council-owned commercial properties can be used to regenerate neighbourhoods, the issues the council faces in encouraging use by local businesses and groups, and how revenue generated from rents can improve the council's overall financial position.

Social Landlords Performance Report

The Housing & Regeneration Scrutiny Sub Committee was scheduled to receive an update on registered provider (RP) performance for Quarter 1 in 2025/26. The report was expected to showcase RP performance in line with the Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) set by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH).

The report included data and commentary on various metrics, including:

• Percentage of homes that do not meet the Decent Homes Standard¹.
• Percentage of emergency and non-emergency repairs completed within target time.
• Percentage of homes that have had gas, fire, asbestos, water, and lift safety checks.
• Number of complaints received and responded to on-time.
• Number of anti-social behaviour cases.
• Average re-let time.
• Percentage of housing stock unavailable for letting at period end.
• Vacant units at the end of the letting period.

The report noted that Tower Hamlets Council had the highest non-decency rate at 16.83%, but that this was an improvement from previous quarters. It also highlighted that performance across both emergency and non-emergency repairs had significantly improved since the last quarter.

Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy

The Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Sub-Committee was scheduled to discuss the council's Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) policy. The council is updating its policy to reflect the merger of the council and Tower Hamlets Homes into one organisation, clarify service standards, and outline channels for reporting ASB.

The council conducted a consultation from August to September 2025, receiving 130 responses that helped inform the policy and establish its priorities. The policy sets out the council's approach to tackling ASB in Tower Hamlets, including service standards and details on how the council will respond to incidents.

The policy is intended to be grounded on people's experience of ASB in Tower Hamlets and help residents understand when to report and how their complaint will be dealt with. The policy will also take into account the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 and the Mayor's Police and Crime Plan.

The consultation included a survey, discussions with the Tower Hamlets Youth Council, and consultations with community safety, ASB, and housing professionals. Feedback from professionals highlighted the need to strengthen partnership working between teams that tackle ASB, mental health, and legal services, improve outdated processes and procedures, improve channels of feedback, and clarify escalation pathways.

The survey asked about residents' experiences of ASB and what could be improved. Most respondents were council tenants (52%), followed by private renters (17%). The most frequently reported forms of ASB were drug-related activity (47%), noise nuisance (42%), and fly-tipping (30%). Most respondents either experienced ASB weekly or rarely.

The proposed focus of the ASB policy includes:

• The council's approach to preventing, addressing, and resolving anti-social behaviour.
• Defining ASB as conduct that causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm, or distress to any person .
• Distinguishing between low-level nuisance and serious ASB and taking proportionate, risk-based responses.
• Detailing what the council will and will not consider ASB.
• Clarifying the roles and responsibilities of council staff when addressing ASB.
• Clarifying how to report ASB.
• Clarifying the service standards people can expect and what to expect after a response is provided.
• How the policy will address ASB where vulnerability, safeguarding, hate crime, and violence against women and girls are related.
• How the 24-hour ASB service will be utilised to address ASB.