Planning

HTA is lead planning consultant for the London Borough of Hackney’s New Homes Programme – an ambitious initiative to transform underused council-owned land across 14 infill sites into much-needed housing. The programme will deliver 400 new homes and plays a central role in helping the borough meet its commitment to 1,000 new council homes for social rent by 2026. HTA’s planning strategy was designed to bring consistency, clarity and momentum to a complex portfolio. We worked closely with the local planning authority to create a Planning Performance Agreement (PPA) and a bespoke Unilateral Undertaking that addresses key policy themes across the full set of sites. These include affordable housing, tenure and unit mix, accessible homes, infrastructure delivery and planning obligations – all structured as a coherent portfolio-wide framework.

This proactive and collaborative approach helps unlock challenges that individual sites might otherwise face. It also creates transparency for officers and stakeholders while allowing for site-specific flexibility. Alongside strategic leadership, our team is working hand-in-hand with seven design teams, supporting the development of proposals and guiding each project through its own pre-application process. The first detailed planning applications – for five sites – have now been submitted, with more to follow in phased sequence.