Agenda item

To provide an update on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on housing development, including the Housing Delivery Programme and major redevelopment projects in the Borough.

Robbie Erbmann, Assistant Director for Housing, introduced a report about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Council’s Housing Delivery Programme.

He said that the Council had previously committed to a very ambitious programme of delivering 1,000 Council housing completions by 2022 and that, in order to meet that target, it would have been necessary for everything to go right. However, the onset of the pandemic had adversely impacted on the programme in a number of ways including:

• Illnesses to a number of key staff;
• Migrating various procedures online from scratch;
• Reductions to availability within the supply chain;
• Suspension of construction work on a number of active sites;
• A significant shortage of building materials such as plaster;
• An exacerbation of labour market shortages;
• A reduction to the speed of construction work on site to around 60-70% due to social distancing;

The latest estimate was that the Council would achieve at least 1,000 ‘starts’ by March 2022 and around 800 completions by May 2023. It may now not be possible to reach 1,000 completions until 2024. However, it was not yet known what the impact of a possible second wave of Covid-19 would have on this timetable.

Robbie Erbmann and Peter O’Brien responded to questions from the Panel as follows:

• Asked by Cllr Barnes about whether the ambitious housing target was realistic and whether the impact of Brexit had been factored in to the revised timetable, Robbie Erbmann said that the target was necessarily ambitious and had mobilised resources but that everything would have needed to go right to meet it. He added that the current impact from Brexit is factored into the plans though there is a wide degree of uncertainty over that impact which would need to be closely monitored.
• Asked by Cllr Gordon whether there was a robust and transparent system of project management of the projects within the Housing Delivery Programme, Robbie Erbmann said the Council had a number of experienced project managers from the local government and housing associations sectors leading the projects. There was a team of 18 with more being recruited to help deliver the projects and he was confident that the skills and the systems required to deliver the programme was in place. He added that they had looked at two points arising from an audit that had been carried out earlier in the year on reporting and on financial management. A new system of software had been introduced and embedded into the management processes along with a new reporting system. Cllr Gordon queried comments made in the auditor’s report which could only give limited assurance that there had been the appropriate monitoring procedures in place due to the speed of the programme. Robbie Erbmann said that the report had identified areas for improvement, all of which had been actioned.
• Asked by Cllr Gordon for an update about the delivery of new homes at Broadwater Farm, Peter O’Brien reported that architects and viability consultants had recently been appointed and more detailed consultation with residents was planned. This consultation process had also been adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and it had been decided that consultation would not have been appropriate during the lockdown. However, a mixed approach to consultation had already been developed prior to this, including both face-to-face and online engagement. The Council was therefore assessing options on engaging with people who struggle with online communication, perhaps for example by organising physical events with smaller numbers of people, though this would create some challenges. A lot of innovation was happening across the country to address this kind of problem including new interactive tools such as virtual rooms that people could use instead of attending a physical event.
• Asked by Cllr Stone about how the impact of Covid-19 on the Housing Delivery Programme compared with other London Boroughs, Robbie Erbmann said that the overall planned trajectory had been quicker than other Boroughs and that even those that also had ambitious targets had started their delivery plans earlier. However, in general, all Boroughs were in the same boat with the timetables of their programmes being elongated. The GLA’s Affordable Housing Grant programme had already been extended by another year in recognition of this.
• Cllr Moyeed asked for further details about the Council’s approach to zero-carbon developments given that the Edith Road development in Bounds Green was described in the report as the Council’s first zero-carbon development. Robbie Erbmann said that the Council would get as close as possible to zero-carbon on as many sites as possible but that zero-carbon can’t always be achieved in every scenario. Various methods were being looked at to achieve carbon reductions for the projects being planned, including through the heating methods for example, and this was a top priority for the team. 
• Asked by Cllr Moyeed about the overall mix of homes, who had noted that the first four-bedroom homes in the borough at social rent in over a decade were planned at Mount View Court in Harringay ward, Robbie Erbmann said that the current programme included around 26% family housing and there was an ambition to provide the 3-bed and 4-bed family housing that residents need.
• Asked by Cllr Brabazon about the viability of the programme and the delivery partners given the current economic circumstances, Robbie Erbmann said that there were some negative signs relating to the HRA including for example a decline in rent collection, though it was hoped that this would be a temporary issue. However, the negative impact of these factors was outweighed by the reduction of the interest rate through the Public Works Loans Board so viability was currently looking quite positive. In terms of procurement, while more due diligence may be required in selecting financially viable partners, there was still quite a lot of work in the sector so the risk was expected to be limited.
• Asked by Cllr Brabazon about the funding position relating to the Love Lane Estate, Peter O’Brien said that primary focus of the Council’s efforts has been on securing a funding package from the GLA which would enable the delivery of 500 Council homes through the High Road West scheme. Discussions were ongoing and it was hoped that more information on this would available later in the year.