Formation Design & Build's £17m construction contract for 36 council homes and a replacement community centre at Caxton Grove in Bow, east London, was signed on 5 October 2026, according to a contract-details notice published by Tower Hamlets on 9 November. The agreement covers a part seven-storey, part nine-storey residential building on the existing Caxton Hall site.
The new Find a Tender record (106422-2026), under procurement reference HAR6073, puts the agreed price at £17m excluding VAT, or £20.4m including VAT, and gives a contract period from 30 March 2027 to 30 December 2028. Formation had already been named and the £17m value reported in June. The latest notice adds the contract-signing date, agreed delivery period and social-value measures.
36 council homes and replacement community centre
The approved development occupies Caxton Hall Community Centre and adjoining land at Caxton Grove, E3 2EE, close to the junction with Malmesbury Road. Planning permission, under reference PA/24/00164/A1, was issued in December 2024 following consideration by Tower Hamlets' Strategic Development Committee earlier that year.
All 36 homes are intended for council social rent, according to September 2026 cabinet minutes, including 14 family-sized properties. The residential accommodation will sit above a replacement community centre designed to provide more space than the existing facility. The proposal also includes a part-basement, accessible parking, cycle storage and refuse facilities.
Construction will involve demolition of the existing community centre and ball court, followed by a new building with sections rising to seven and nine storeys. The approved scope includes landscaping and alterations to Four Seasons Green, as well as a raised crossover at the Caxton Grove and Malmesbury Road junction. These works place the contract across residential construction, community provision and the adjoining public realm.
Signed contract sets out programme and local employment measures
The £17m Caxton Grove award followed an open procurement procedure. An award notice in June 2026 had identified Formation Design & Build as the successful contractor; the later contract-details notice records that the parties signed the agreement on 5 October. The November record confirms contract execution following the earlier contractor selection.
The 9 November filing also identifies three social-value reporting measures: full-time equivalent jobs created for Tower Hamlets residents, apprenticeships provided and the percentage of project procurement spending directed to borough-based small and medium-sized businesses. The published extract identifies these measures but does not establish the eventual numbers delivered.
The council's earlier public contracts-register entry shows £17m as an estimated figure and carries administrative dates of 8 August 2026 to 7 February 2029. The later signed-contract notice gives an agreed £17m price and the 30 March 2027 to 30 December 2028 contract period. These are different entries in the procurement record; neither date range is evidence that main construction has already started.
Rights-of-light decision and site preparation
Tower Hamlets Cabinet considered a separate land decision in September 2026, approving delegated powers to appropriate the Caxton Grove site for planning purposes and engage Section 203 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016. That power can allow development to proceed where third-party rights, including rights to light, would otherwise be infringed, with compensation arrangements addressed through the statutory process.
The cabinet decision also authorised officers to negotiate and enter into documents relating to settlement of rights-of-light claims. Any such compensation and associated fees would be met from the project's capital budget. The council warned that without the land measures, injunction proceedings could delay or prevent delivery of the approved development.
At its 23 September meeting, the council recorded that pre-start works had begun and main works were expected in 2027. That is consistent with the contract period beginning in March 2027, although it does not specify a confirmed day for structural works to start. The notice sets 30 December 2028 as the contractual end date.