Further plans to deliver thousands of new homes along the River Thames have been outlined by the Government, with £500,000 reportedly being pledged to deliver the project.

The scheme would see over 7,000 new homes being added to Greenwich and Newham as part of Housing Secretary Michael Gove’s ‘planning Super Squad’.

The housing secretary sent a letter to the Mayor of London on March 18 to claim housing provision in the capital had suffered from ‘chronic under-delivery’.

He claimed many opportunity areas in the London Plan had shown little progress and that 736 hectares of industrial land was ‘stuck in the planning system’.

Mr Gove said in his letter to the Mayor: “Today, I can confirm that following discussions with Greenwich and Newham, I am prioritising these boroughs for assistance from my department’s new planning Super Squad.”

He added: “This team, which will comprise leading planners and specialists whose talents will be used to unblock major developments, will provide Greenwich and Newham with £500,000 worth of specialist support in 2024/25, helping to unlock over 7,000 homes.”

The update follows the housing secretary’s announcement in July last year that the Government planned to deliver tens of thousands of new homes across Beckton, Silvertown, Charlton Riverside and Thamesmead.

He said the project, named Docklands 2.0, would see the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities working alongside private developers to transform the areas and provide better transport links from east to west in the city.

Charlton Riverside has previously been cited as an area of interest by Greenwich Council for 7,500 new homes across a set of low rise buildings.

The project could see over 2,500 new affordable homes being added to the space alongside 4,000 new jobs. However, the plans have not been officially picked up by a developer.

Transport for London also carried out a consultation earlier this month on extending the DLR to Beckton Riverside and Thamesmead.

The transport authority claimed up to 30,000 new homes could be provided across Newham and Greenwich through the scheme. Greenwich Council has previously cited its approval for new transport in the area, calling on the Government to support the proposed DLR extension.

Peabody said in a report from last year that it owned 65 per cent of the land in Thamesmead and over 600 plans had been built in the area since 2018 as part of its wider scheme.

A spokesperson previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that the company planned on building up to 2,600 homes in South Thamesmead, and Thamesmead Waterfront had the potential to deliver up to 15,000 more homes.

Regarding Mr Gove’s comments, a London Labour spokesperson told the LDRS: “This is nothing more than a stunt from the Government to distract from their abysmal record of failure. The facts are clear, while Sadiq has been Mayor, London has outbuilt the rest of the country.”

They added: “Under a Labour Mayor housing completions in the capital have hit the highest level since the 1930s, according to the Government’s own data.

"London is also delivering twice the level of council homebuilding as the rest of the country combined, showing up the Tories’ dismal failure nationally.”