Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has approved plans for a data centre and wider commercial redevelopment around the former Truman Brewery estate despite opposition from Tower Hamlets Council and local campaigners seeking a housing-led scheme.
The decision grants permission for four linked appeals covering separate sites in and around Brick Lane. The proposals include a 5,200-square-metre data centre, offices, shops, a cinema, market space, a supermarket, a microbrewery and new public areas.
The wider development will provide 44 homes, including 11 classed as affordable and only six for social rent.
Campaigners argue that this is an inadequate response in a borough where more than 30,000 households are reportedly waiting for social housing. Ministers concluded that the regeneration, employment and digital-infrastructure benefits justified approving the plans.
Decision issued on Rayner’s behalf
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook issued the formal decision on behalf of Rayner on 29 July. The decision letter states that the Secretary of State agreed with the planning inspector’s recommendation that all four appeals should be allowed.
Describing the plans as having been “forced through” is politically loaded, but it is accurate to say that Rayner’s department approved them despite the objections of the local authority and residents’ groups.
The applications were submitted to Tower Hamlets Council in August 2024. The developers appealed in June 2025 because the council had not determined them within the prescribed period.
Tower Hamlets subsequently resolved that it would have refused the proposals had it retained the power to decide them. The council’s objections then formed part of its case at a public inquiry held during October 2025.
The appeals were recovered for ministerial determination because the developments were considered to be of major importance and to have more than local significance.
What has been approved?
The data centre will be constructed on the corner of Grey Eagle Street and Calvin Street, on land forming part of the wider Truman Brewery estate. The existing building was formerly used for beer storage and is now largely derelict.
The four-storey data centre would provide approximately 5,200 square metres of floorspace and reach a maximum approved height of about 29 metres, including rooftop equipment.
Separate parts of the scheme will provide five mixed-use buildings containing homes, offices, retail and hospitality space. Further commercial development is planned at Ely’s Yard.
The entire historic brewery is not being demolished for the data centre. The Grade II-listed Boiler House and the Cooperage building will be retained and refurbished, with the plans providing event space and a new microbrewery.
Brewing began on the Truman site in approximately 1666. The brewery closed during the late 1980s, and the estate later developed into a centre for markets, shops, food, entertainment and creative businesses.
Campaigners wanted a housing-led alternative
The Save Brick Lane campaign and Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman have criticised the approval, arguing that the site should be used to provide substantially more affordable and social housing.
Tower Hamlets’ emerging Local Plan proposes designating the brewery estate for a housing-led development of approximately 800 homes. However, the ministerial decision gave that draft policy limited weight because it has not completed the examination and adoption process.
The Government said it recognised the housing needs of the local community and the strength of opposition to the proposals. It also acknowledged concerns about the potential effect on the Bangladeshi community, local businesses and the character of Brick Lane.
However, the decision said no detailed evidence had been presented to demonstrate that an alternative housing-led development was feasible and deliverable.
Ministers also highlighted that the six social-rented properties had been designed to meet local requirements, including the need for larger homes suitable for Bangladeshi-heritage families.
Energy use and noise among concerns
Campaigners have raised concerns about the electricity required to operate the data centre, its potential noise and whether its demands on the power grid could restrict future housebuilding.
Save Brick Lane says the facility could consume electricity equivalent to that used by approximately 15,000 homes. That comparison is a campaign estimate rather than a figure adopted as a formal conclusion in the ministerial decision.
The data centre is expected to support high-speed financial trading in the nearby City of London. Critics argue that this would offer few direct benefits to people living around Brick Lane.
Supporters contend that locating the facility close to the City will provide economically valuable digital infrastructure while bringing investment and employment to the wider area.
Government gives significant weight to economic benefits
The planning inspector and ministers concluded that the development would create substantial economic benefits through construction, employment, commercial activity and increased spending around Brick Lane.
The decision gave significant weight to forecasts that the office development could generate £80 million of annual expenditure away from the site, including £48 million within the local economy.
It also concluded that the data centre’s public benefits would be “very significant”, while increased footfall could support shops, restaurants and Brick Lane’s curry houses.
Those conclusions are disputed by campaigners, who believe the project risks increasing rents, displacing established businesses and weakening the character of Spitalfields and Banglatown.
A test of the Government’s competing priorities
The controversy places several government objectives in direct competition: building more homes, encouraging economic growth, protecting heritage and expanding the digital infrastructure required by modern businesses.
For critics, approving a major commercial scheme with only six social-rented homes demonstrates that immediate investment and data-centre capacity have been prioritised over the borough’s housing shortage.
For ministers, the lack of a sufficiently developed alternative housing proposal meant the application had to be assessed on the plans and evidence actually before the inquiry.
The decision does not erase the local opposition. Save Brick Lane has said it is seeking expert advice about whether the approval can be challenged, while Tower Hamlets Council has described it as a missed opportunity to deliver the homes its residents urgently need.