Free land deal will boost housing

Tower Hamlets council is giving 'new priority to residents on its waiting list for up to six years. As part of attempts to defuse the housing issue, councillors plan to dispose of land free.

Housing associations will be encouraged to grow by taking up land in exchange for taking on council tenants. Phil Maxwell, housing committee chairman, hopes that and a quicker turnover of empty properties will 'unlock the problem of overcrowded housing lists.