Waltham Forest supports Tower Hamlets Council which, alongside Hackney and Lewisham, has raised a legal challenge against the Mayor of London about his decision to allow developers to reduce the minimum amount of affordable housing in major developments from 35 per cent to 20 per cent. We strongly support the principle that major developments in our city should provide, at a minimum, 35 per cent affordable housing. Once sites are built out with low levels of affordable housing, the opportunity to meet housing need on that land is effectively lost for a generation.

There were 14,416 households on our housing waiting list and 1531 living in temporary accommodation in Waltham Forest as of the end of April 2026. Behind every one of those numbers is a family who needs a genuinely affordable, secure home. 

This housing crisis affects everyone - families waiting for a home, young people who want to remain in the communities they grew up in, key workers who keep our borough running, and ordinary working families who are increasingly being priced out of Waltham Forest.

We believe that the current viability-led model of housing delivery is broken and not fit for purpose. For too long viability has reduced the number of affordable homes being built due to a lack of funding and investment.

We are also concerned about the reduction in the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) we receive from developers working in our area. The CIL funds essential infrastructure upgrades and improvements that are necessary to successful integrate new housing developments into existing neighbourhoods.

Without these funds, current residents feel that new housing developments are things that are forced upon them and not that actually directly benefit them. We must re-establish this link between new developments and the associated improvements they provide to residents.

We know we can deliver more genuinely affordable homes, but we need the investment to do it. 

Everyone deserves the right to live, work and build their future in the community they call home.

Cllr Eva Tabbasam
Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing & Regeneration