Tower Hamlets’ population is rising. Pic: Taylor Duren and Anna Lidster

Tower Hamlets will see the steepest increase in population of any London borough over 2015, according to data published by the Greater London Authority.

The GLA released data predicting that Tower Hamlets’ population will increase by 2.3 per cent between 2014 and 2015, alongside a study showing London as now the biggest city in Europe and the 6th richest place in the world. The capital is home to more than 8.6 million people and, according to City Hall, the number will rise to 11 million by 2050.

Population changes. Pic: James Benge

A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets Council said: “We are working hard to ensure we can meet the needs of local people by building new, affordable housing, ensuring there are enough school places, leisure and health facilities and doing everything we can to make sure our infrastructure can support our growing borough.”

“Over the last five years, Tower Hamlets has delivered the most affordable homes in the country. We’ve built more than 4,500 new affordable homes.”

Currently, Croydon is the biggest borough in the city, but the data shows Barnet is about to go into the lead, becoming the most populous area in the next few months. The area will then be home to approximately 400,000 people.

Hackney and Lewisham will see a residential increase of around 1.4 per cent each in 2015. There are expected to be 323,000 living in Hackney in 2039 and Lewisham 347,000.

Further information can be found here

Video by Taylor Duren and Anna Lidster