34
New development charges, 12 months to June 2026 (+21.4%)
Development exit report · H1 2026
Tower Hamlets Development Exit Report, H1 2026
Who is lending to developers in Tower Hamlets, how many schemes are exiting their development loans, and how quickly new homes are selling. Built from Companies House charges, Land Registry sales and council planning data.
10
Development loans filed as repaid, same 12 months
70.5%
Live development book over 24 months old (60.6% nationally)
705
New-build sales, latest settled 12 months (+23.5%)
Written and reviewed by Matt Lenzie Founder & Principal Broker · 25 years arranging development finance · Reviewed September 2026
In short
In Tower Hamlets, development loans filed as repaid fell 56.5% to 10, the sharpest change of any signal we track for the borough. Next largest, registered new-build sales rose 23.5% to 705 over the latest settled year. Of the 200 development charges still live in Tower Hamlets at 30 June, 70.5% had been running for more than 24 months, more than the national average. On the planning side, 36 residential applications were approved in the latest 12-month window.
Scorecard
Tower Hamlets at a glance
How each signal moved over the year, measured the same way for every location we report on.
| Signal | Tower Hamlets | Change | Basis | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New development charges | 34 | +21.4% | 12 months to June 2026 vs the 12 months before | Up |
| Development charges satisfied (exits filed) | 10 | -56.5% | 12 months to June 2026 vs the 12 months before; recent filings provisional | Down |
| Exit-type lending to developers | 15 | -11.8% | bridging, specialist-bank and private-credit charges on development companies | Down |
| Live development book over 24 months old | 70.5% | +9.9 pts | at 30 June 2026, compared with 60.6% across England and Wales | Above national |
| New-build sales registered | 705 | +23.5% | settled 12 months (registration lag allowed for) vs the 12 months before | Up |
| New developer and property companies | 663 | +23.5% | SIC 41100, 41202, 68100 by registered office; live register only | Up |
Companies House · development lending
Development lending and exits in Tower Hamlets
Over the 12 months to 30 June 2026, 26 development companies in Tower Hamlets gave security to development lenders, 34 charges in all. The year before it was 28 (+21.4%).
Set against that, 10 development charges were satisfied (repaid) in the same year. That is a repayment ratio of 0.29, below the national 0.4, so more debt is going on than coming off.
A charge is the security a lender registers at Companies House. It shows that a loan was taken and when it was repaid (satisfied), not how much was lent. Repayments are filed late, so the latest six months are provisional.
New development chargesSatisfied (loan repaid)
Companies House charge register, Construction Capital analysis
Companies House · exit-type lending
Bridging and specialist lending to Tower Hamlets developers
Tower Hamlets saw 15 exit-type charges registered against development companies in the 12 months to June 2026, against 17 a year earlier (-11.8%).
Most came from specialist and challenger banks (15). Comparing half-years, 6 in H1 2026 against 6 in H1 2025.
Exit-type lending counts charges registered by bridging lenders, specialist banks and private credit funds against companies whose registered business is developing buildings (SIC 41100 or 41202). It is the market that refinances development debt at completion and funds the sales period.
Companies House charge register, Construction Capital analysis
Companies House · lender categories
Who is lending in Tower Hamlets
Across all 728 charges registered against property in Tower Hamlets over the year, specialist lenders held 81.3% of those we can match to a lender type, against 88.4% nationally. Mainstream banks do relatively more here: specialists are 7 points below the national share.
Lenders are grouped by category from the Construction Capital lender register and never named.
Specialist and challenger banksBridging lendersHigh-street banksDevelopment lenders, funds and other
Companies House charge register, Construction Capital analysis
Land Registry · sales
How quickly new homes are selling
Tower Hamlets recorded 705 new-build sales in the settled 12 months to July 2025, against 571 the year before (+23.5%). That is 22.4% of the market, against a national 8.3%.
The new-build premium was 74.5% on flats (£785,310 median).
All residential sales totalled 2,664 in the settled 12 months to January 2026 (-11.1% on the year before).
Land Registry registers new-build plot sales up to a year after completion, so new-build figures use the latest settled 12 months. Prices are transaction-sample medians, not a like-for-like index.
HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, Construction Capital analysis
Planning · pipeline
The next wave of schemes needing an exit
Between 20 September 2025 and 20 September 2026, 36 residential applications were approved (19 new build, 9 other residential, 7 conversion) and 30 awaited a decision.
At least 61 homes are consented, counting only the 19 approvals that state a number.
Residential applications from council planning portals over each council's latest 12-month window. Unit counts are only stated on some applications, so unit totals are a floor.
| Largest approved schemes (stated units) | Units | Type | Decided |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 Monier Road, London, E3 2nd | 9 | new build | 2026-05-19 |
| Westwood House, 54 Millharbour, London, E14 | 9 | new build | 2025-10-03 |
| Compass Point, 5 Grenade Street, London | 6 | new build | 2025-11-03 |
Companies House · registrations
New developer companies
Company formation is an early pipeline signal: 663 new property and development companies in Tower Hamlets over the latest year, 214 registered as developers (SIC 41100 or 41202).
Half-year to half-year: 372 in the first half of 2026, 323 a year before.
Companies registered with SIC 41100, 41202 or 68100, placed by registered office. The register lists live companies only, so earlier periods lose companies since dissolved.
Benchmark
Tower Hamlets against England and Wales
| Measure | Tower Hamlets | Change | England and Wales | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New development charges, 12 months | 34 | +21.4% | 9,544 | +11.7% |
| Development charges satisfied, 12 months | 10 | -56.5% | 3,785 | +21.1% |
| Live development book at 30 June 2026 | 200 | 41,855 | ||
| Share of live book over 24 months old | 70.5% | 60.6% | ||
| Exit-type lending to developers, 12 months | 15 | -11.8% | 5,241 | +3.4% |
| New-build sales, settled 12 months | 705 | +23.5% | 68,506 | -6.1% |
| New-build share of sales, settled 12 months | 22.4% | 8.3% | ||
| New developer and property companies, 12 months | 663 | +23.5% | 61,275 | +7% |
What it means
What this means for developers exiting in Tower Hamlets
Reading the signals as a set: new development lending, new-build sales, new companies are up, while loan repayments, exit-type lending are down.
An older-than-average book is the clearest local sign of schemes overrunning. Developers in that position usually refinance onto an exit facility or sell at a discount to clear senior debt.
Rising new-build sales give lenders comfort on sales rates, which usually means better exit terms.
Terms depend on the scheme, the sales evidence and the developer, and no finance is guaranteed. We are a finance broker, not a lender. Development exit finance for companies is unregulated lending.
Read how a development exit loan is sized, or compare the national picture in the Development Exit Demand Tracker. Local market detail sits on our development exit finance in Tower Hamlets page.
Methodology and sources
Companies House charges (security instruments, not loans: no amounts, LTVs or rates). Development lending = charges held by specialist development lenders, or by development-active mixed lenders where the borrower carries SIC 41100/41202, the charge wording names development land or a site, or the borrower is a newly incorporated (within 12 months) SIC 68100 company with no buy-to-let SIC (the same rule as the national Development Exit Demand Tracker). Exit-type lending to developers = charges registered by bridging, specialist-bank and private-credit (funder) lenders against companies carrying SIC 41100/41202. A charge is placed by its charged-property postcode, or failing that the borrower's registered office. 'Satisfied' is the filed repayment of a charge: the exit. Exit refinance events are new charges registered on the same title after a specialist development lender's charge was repaid or released (charge stacks, same-group and same-company pairs excluded). Satisfactions are filed late, so the most recent six months are provisional and will rise. Lender categories come from the Construction Capital lender register; lenders are never named.
Land Registry registers new-build plot sales up to a year after completion, so new-build counts, shares and premiums are read only over the settled 12 months ending a year before the data vintage (settled12m) and compared with the 12 months before that. New-build figures in the most recent windows are incomplete and are not used for any headline. HMLR Price Paid, standard (category A) residential sales (detached, semi, terraced, flat) in the location's local authorities. New-build premium compares the median new-build price with the median existing-stock price within flats and within houses; it is a transaction-sample median, not a constant-quality index. Registrations lag completions by weeks to months, so the most recent months (and new-build plots especially) understate final counts; trailing-12-month figures are the steadier read.
Residential planning applications (new build, conversion, prior approval, mixed use, HMO, demolition and rebuild) from the Construction Capital council-portal scrapes, one record set per authority, over each council's rolling 12-month scrape window. Unit counts are stated only on some applications, so totals undercount. Councils not yet scraped are listed as missing, never estimated.
New companies with SIC 41100, 41202 or 68100 by registered-office postcode. The register snapshot holds live companies only, so earlier windows lose companies since dissolved; read year-on-year change as indicative.
Data vintage: charges registered to 2026-07-31, satisfactions filed to 2026-08-03, company register snapshot 2026-08-01, Land Registry transactions to 2026-07-31. Area covered: Tower Hamlets (local authority boundaries). Minimum sample 30. 18 cuts suppressed for sample size.
Sources: Companies House charge register, Construction Capital analysis; HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, Construction Capital analysis; Council planning portals, Construction Capital planning scrape. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Companies House data is public and reused under the Open Government Licence.
You are welcome to cite or chart these figures with a link to this page.
FAQ
Development exit in Tower Hamlets: common questions
How much development lending is there in Tower Hamlets?
Development lenders registered 34 new charges in Tower Hamlets in the 12 months to June 2026 (+21.4% on the year before), taken by 26 companies. It counts loans taken, not their value.
Are development schemes in Tower Hamlets overrunning?
At 30 June 2026, 70.5% of live development charges in Tower Hamlets were over 24 months old (England and Wales: 60.6%). Charges that old usually sit on schemes past their original term.
What is development exit finance?
A short-term loan taken at or near practical completion. It repays the development lender and funds the sales or letting period, often at a lower rate than the development loan it replaces, and can release equity for the next scheme. Our development exit finance page covers how it is sized and priced.
Where does this data come from?
Companies House charges and company registrations, HM Land Registry Price Paid Data and council planning portals, all analysed by Construction Capital. Figures below the minimum sample of 30 are suppressed, and lenders are grouped into categories rather than named.
Completing a scheme in Tower Hamlets?
Send us the scheme, the current facility and the sales position and we will give a view on the exit options and indicative terms.