Premises
A number of voluntary and community groups working in Tower Hamlets have come together to call upon the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to:
- Resolve immediately the specific issues around leases.
- Review the VCS Premises Policy to include longer-term leases.
- Consider social value rents for voluntary and community groups.
The full statement can be found here.
If you wish to sign the statement please let us know here.
Avire UK
This organisation specialises in matching registered charities (not CICs) to landlords with empty premises on a rent-free basis. It’s probably not a permanent solution and I think you would need to be able to respond very quickly when premises comes up, but you can find out more here and if you wish to add your charity’s name to Avire’s database, they can notify you when a suitable space becomes available. Email traceybayford@avire.co.uk.
Forums
- 10 September 2025
We fed into the council’s ‘Community Facilities Design and Delivery Guidance for Developers’, to ensure that any new community facilities provided by developers meet local needs, are well-designed and welcoming, and are planned, delivered and managed effectively. Click here for the slide presentation.
We heard that there has been some movement on the case studies, and we discussed the next phase of the collective campaign to review the Premises Policy, to recognise the value that VCS groups bring, to offer longer-term leases and to consider social value rents. If you would like to hear more please contact vicky.scott@thcvs.org.uk.
- 11 June 2025
We developed a collective statement calling upon the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to:
- Resolve immediately the specific issues around leases.
- Review the VCS Premises Policy to include longer-term leases.
- Consider social value rents for voluntary and community groups.
The full statement can be found here.
If you wish to sign the statement please let us know here.
- 18 March 2025
Notes from the meeting are here. Response from the Council here.
- 10 February 2025:
We agreed to collectively develop a series of specific asks of the Council, following Council CEO Steve Halsey’s commitment to, ‘clearly define our position on lease agreements, particularly in instances of disputes, and establish a collaborative process for resolving such issues’. If you would like to contribute and are in the Council’s community portfolio (a list can be found here) please contact vicky.scott@thcvs.org.uk.
Information about Council properties
- The buildings in the Council’s current Community Premises Portfolio are listed at Appendix 8 of the VCS Premises Policy and Procedures.
- Over 80 halls and other venues to hire: Halls and venues for hire (towerhamlets.gov.uk).
- Affordable workspace and premises, including temporary use: Affordable workspace and premises (towerhamlets.gov.uk).
- Over 200 shops and other premises that are owned by the Council and available for letting. These include properties which are in the Community Premises Portfolio (CPP) and therefore only available to let to VCS organisations. When these are available they can be found here: Commercial lettings (towerhamlets.gov.uk).
Information about non-Council properties
- For traditional rental enquiries a property search: Commercial Property for Sale, to rent or auction in the UK | Propertylink (estatesgazette.com).