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Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has announced a new ‘Singapore-style’ housing development arm for London and £100 million of investment into the Silvertown Partnership.

The move sees the Greater London Authority become a 50 per cent shareholder alongside Lendlease in the development company at Silvertown, east London. US property investor Starwood had previously held the stake.

The amount City Hall has paid for the shares has not yet been disclosed.

The Silvertown regeneration, for which an updated masterplan was approved in December, is set to deliver 7,000 new homes in the Royal Docks, East London.

Architects on parts of the plan include AHMM, Pollard Thomas Edwards, Maccreanor Lavington and Gort Scott with OMMX, while the landscape architects are Churchman Thornhill Finch and Danish practice SLA. It also features housing by Stirling Prize-winner Haworth Tompkins.

In January 2025, some 326 affordable homes designed by Gort Scott, working with the Guinness Partnership housing association, were approved as part of the masterplan.

Regeneration in the area also includes refurbishment of a former flour mill, which has been empty for 40 years, into flexible workspace, under a scheme designed by AHMM called Millennium Mills.

The announcement was made as Khan visited Singapore’s SkyResidence development in Queenstown. The scheme was delivered by Singapore’s public housing authority, the Singapore Housing and Development Board, which the mayor said was an example of transformational state-led housing delivery.

The state is responsible for building around 80 per cent of homes and owning the vast majority of land in Singapore.

Khan said: ‘I’m proud to be investing £100 million – one of the largest investments made by any Mayor of London – to help build and deliver thousands of new, high-quality and affordable homes at Silvertown.

‘This is a new era for housebuilding in London, with City Hall investing directly in new homes, unblocking stalled sites and speeding up development.’

He acknowledged that housebuilding was impacted by factors including high interest rates, construction material inflation, Brexit and Building Safety Regulator delays, and said this is why he was acting to support development.

Silvertown Partnership executive director of development Ed Mayes said the investment would help unlock the complex site, which has remained dormant for decades.

‘Over the past five years, the sector has faced exceptional pressures. In this context, co-ordinated public sector investment is a meaningful intervention that enables delivery where the market alone cannot.

‘With this support in place, Silvertown can continue to make progress and realise its potential as a thriving new neighbourhood for east London,’ he said.

Khan had committed to launching a City Hall-backed developer in his 2021 and 2024 election manifestoes.

Today’s statement added that it would work through joint ventures and ‘innovative financing approaches’ to unlock challenging sites across London and help prepare sites which the private sector was unable to take forward.

Responding to today’s investment boost, Dominic Milner, director at Maccreanor Lavington said: ‘This is fantastic news for Silvertown Quays, a place with huge potential. We have recently completed the first building in the masterplan, delivering 100 affordable homes.

‘It currently stands alone, signalling the change that is to come. We hope that this investment will help to accelerate the delivery of the vibrant and verdant neighbourhood that Lendlease do so well.’

Source/Image Source: Architects Journal

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