O’Brien Garages, Tower Hamlets

The Site comprises 26 x lock-up garages, together with a small parking area to the south of the Site and landscaped grassland to the west side of the access road. The Site is located within the Bow Ward of Tower Hamlets. The Site is owned and managed by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets (the Council).

The principal part of the Site is located on the south side of Roman Road and to the immediate west of O’Brien House, which forms one of three slab blocks that form the wider housing estate dating from the mid to late 20th Century. Access to the Site is taken at the junction with Roman Road and Smart Street to the north-west corner of the wider estate.

The development comprises the demolition of the existing garages on the Site, to allow the erection of a 3-storey building comprising 10 GLA funded social rent dwellings. The ground floor is composed of 5 flats with self-contained entrances, and the upper two floors comprise 5 walk-up maisonettes with roof terrace amenity.

Landscape improvements are made to the wider Site, including provision of communal gardens and a new play space located on the west side of the Site, 1 x disabled (blue badge) parking space, and a new servicing bay which will serve the development site and the wider estate.

The proposals form an integral part of the Council’s response to address the rise in acute housing need as a result of the borough experiencing the fastest population growth in the country in recent years. The population has grown from 254,000 in 2011 to 272,000 in 2013 and is projected to rise to 320,000 and over 350,000 by 2033. The Council has pledged to deliver 1,000 new council homes by 2022/23 and identify a pipeline of a further 1,000 council homes. In addition, the Council will work with its partner housing associations to enable the delivery of more affordable housing.

The development is to be part funded by application to the GLA’s 2021-26 Affordable Housing Programme.