Puru Miah asks is Labour serious about tackling inequality and the housing crisis?
On the afternoon of Friday, 31 October 2025, at the Town Hall in Whitechapel, London, the final summing-up of arguments was presented at the Planning Inquiry into the future of the Truman Brewery site on Brick Lane.
Brick Lane is synonymous with London’s and Britain’s migratory history. From the settlement of Huguenots in the 17th century, to Jewish communities in the 19th century, and today as the heart of the British Bangladeshi community, the area has long been shaped by successive waves of migration and working-class life.
The inquiry brought two fundamentally opposing visions into sharp relief. On one side was the appellant, the Truman Brewery Estate, seeking permission to redevelop the site into predominantly corporate office space, offering just six units of social housing. On the other was, Tower Hamlets Council, the local planning authority, designated the site for housing, particularly much-needed social housing, within its Local Plan. Supporting the Council as a Rule 6 party was the local community campaign Save Brick Lane, which argued that the site should be used to meet urgent housing needs.
A week earlier, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Steve Reed, had called in the application, removing the decision from the Planning Inspectorate and reserving it for his own determination. As a result, the final day of the inquiry effectively became a direct appeal to the Secretary of State.
Coinciding with the final day of the inquiry, the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government published the latest Index of Multiple Deprivation. The findings showed that Tower Hamlets remains one of the most deprived local authorities in England, with poverty and deprivation levels continuing to rise. In its closing submissions, Save Brick Lane, supported by expert witnesses such as Adam Almeida of the Common Wealth think tank, alongside testimony from residents, presented compelling evidence of a community under severe economic pressure. The housing crisis acts as a key driver of hardship.
Save Brick Lane, a local grassroots campaign, has been advocating for housing, particularly social housing, on Brick Lane for over five years. Its efforts have included demonstrations, public protests, and sustained lobbying of local representatives. In 2022, these efforts culminated in a motion passed at full council to designate the site for housing, with the potential to deliver more than 300 much-needed social homes. This designation was subsequently incorporated into the Tower Hamlets Local Plan through a democratic process. The current appeal by the developer seeks to overturn that decision in favour of office development, raising serious questions about the undermining of local democratic planning processes through appeals to the Planning Inspectorate and, now, the Secretary of State.
As the inquiry made clear, the matters before the Secretary of State extend well beyond the technical application of planning policy. At a more immediate level, serious equality concerns were raised about the conduct of the applicant. Evidence submitted by Save Brick Lane, drawing on independent research and community-led workshops, pointed to the deliberate exclusion of residents with protected characteristics.
Saif Osmani, a UCL graduate and researcher, demonstrated how inaccurate and misleading translations in consultation materials appeared which apparently intended to deter meaningful engagement by Bangladeshi residents living in and around Brick Lane. More than 90 per cent of participants in workshops, designed by Dr Tanzil Shafiq of the University of Sheffield’s School of Architecture, reported experiencing significant barriers to participation. Seema Manchanda, a former town planner and expert witness for the Save Brick Lane campaign, reminded all parties of their statutory duties under the Equality Act.
At a press conference held at the London Bangla Press Club on 14 November 2025, campaigners called on the Secretary of State to treat this evidence as a collective complaint of a racist incident of prima facie case of indirect discrimination. They also asked him to apply the Macpherson principle in assessing the findings.
At a macro level, the inquiry sits squarely within the context of the national housing crisis. The need for more homes, particularly genuinely affordable and social housing, is undeniable. Evidence from the anti-poverty charity Trust for London shows that rising housing costs are the single biggest driver of poverty and child poverty in London, with Tower Hamlets among the areas most severely affected.
Ultimately, the decision on the Truman Brewery site presents a defining test. It asks whether the Secretary of State, Steve Reed, and the Labour government led by Keir Starmer, are genuinely committed to addressing the housing crisis and structural inequalities. Or whether this case will represent yet another instance of rhetoric giving way to business as usual.