Agenda item

Major works: Noel Park (tenanted properties)

[Report of the Director for Housing, Regeneration and Planning. To be introduced by the Leader of the Council.]

 

To seek approval for the appointment of the successful contractor to undertake the installation of modular extension replacements and major works. These to be carried out to 117 dwellings in Farrant Avenue, Gladstone Avenue, Morley Avenue and Moselle Avenue.

Minutes:

(Councillor Ibrahim left the meeting for the consideration of this item).

 

The Leader introduced the report which sought approval for the award of a contract to Engie Regeneration Limited to carry out external major works on the Noel Park Estate.

 

The report set out the proposed works which would improve the housing conditions of the homes that had not yet benefitted from the Decent Homes programme on the Noel Park Estate and would include the replacement of the bathrooms, kitchens, windows, and roofs, and rewiring and safety works within the homes.

 

The work would be carried out in two phases. The recommendation in the report was to commence phase one of the works, which would involve renovations to the Council tenanted properties on the estate. Phase two would bring forward proposals to improve the condition of properties owned by leaseholders and in buildings containing both leaseholder owned and Council owned homes.

 

Officers responded to questions from Councillor Ogiehor:

-           The professional fees for a larger housing project, such as this, were standard for this type of work and covered areas such as legal fees, project management and onsite clerk of works. The AD for Housing offered to provide a breakdown of the costs relating to the professional fees in writing to Cllr Ogiehor.

-           There had been a lot of engagement with residents and it was made clear that this was now a good time to improve their homes. The level of responses did not impact on whether this was a good proposal to take forward.

 

-           There were changes in circumstances over the years with these proposals, including a significant change in the removal of asbestos with increased costs to ensure safety. Previous proposals had included turning kitchens into bathrooms and dining rooms into kitchens, but this was not taken forward as there would a significant reduction in living space.

-           The pilot project to remove 4 pods, completed in 2012, had not cost £25k per property as previously reported. When considering the detail of the overall costs, this had been £68k per property. Therefore, taking account build cost inflation over the years, the building costs for this project, and the overall cost per Pod were in line with expected costs for works concerning modular extensions.

-           New approach to the improvement works provided value for money and would update each property with new windows, roofs, and doors, as well as the modular extension.

 

 

Further to considering the exempt information at item 419,

 

RESOLVED

 

1.    Pursuant to the Council’s Contract Standing Order (CSO) 9.07.1 (d), for Cabinet to approve the award of contract for Phase 1 of the works on the Noel Park Estate to Engie Regeneration Limited for the replacement of bathroom pod extensions including bathroom suites and associated works, construction of kitchen extensions, renewal of kitchens, roof replacement and repairs, window and door replacement, rewiring, boiler replacement and central heating installation works, fire protection works, brickwork and concrete repairs and external decoration to tenanted properties on the Noel Park Estate. This will be for the sum of £11,331,675. Phase 1 will include houses and purpose-built flats occupied by tenants only.

2.    Pursuant to the Council’s Contract Standing Order (CSO) 9.07.3, for Cabinet to approve the issue of a letter of intent for an amount of up to, but not exceeding, £1,133,167.50. This represents 10% of the contract sum.

3.    For Cabinet to approve the total professional fees of £855,541.46, which represents 7.55% of the contract sum.

4.    For Cabinet to note the total project cost of £12,187,216

 

Reasons for decision

 

Homes for Haringey requires Cabinet approval to award the contract for the replacement of bathroom pod extensions including bathroom suites and associated works, construction of kitchen extensions, renewal of kitchens, roof replacement and repairs, window, and door replacement, rewiring, boiler replacement and central heating installation works, fire protection works, brickwork and concrete repairs and external decoration. This will enable the essential safety works to commence and for properties to be brought up to the Decent Homes Standard. This is following a tender process undertaken with Haringey Council’s Procurement team via the London Construction Programme (LCP) framework and processes.

 

The tender process was carried out in accordance with the framework requirements that incorporate price and quality, when evaluating tenders, we review based on 60% quality and 40% price. Engie Regeneration Limited scored the highest in relation to these criteria in the associated Lot 3 (NH3) Housing, Lot 3 enables 8 contractors to review and submit tender proposals ensuring we have value for money across the marketplace.

 

Alternative options considered.

 

An alternative option would be for Homes for Haringey to use third party industry frameworks or an OJEU compliant tender process to deliver the construction works on Noel Park Estate. Homes for Haringey sought support and advice from Haringey’s Strategic Procurement team and determined the London Construction Programme Major Works LCP framework as being the optimum route to the market. This was due to the LCP framework being leasehold compliant, value for money and offering speed of access to quality checked contractors.

 

The Council undertook an analysis in February 2020 to compare the costs of a permanent modular built extension against a traditional brick-built extension.

 

This is the primary alternative to the use of a modular solution. It demonstrates that excluding decant costs, it would cost an additional £7,308 per property to install a traditional brick-built extension as opposed to a modular construction. The choice of a traditional brick-built construction would also result in further increases in cost due to the extended time required to build a traditional brick-built extension. Resident leaseholders would potentially face additional costs as a need to vacate their property during the works due to the temporary removal of essential facilities, the bathroom could potentially be decommissioned for circa 3 months. Non-resident leaseholders may also incur loss of rental income as they would likely be required to vacate rented properties during the period of the works. Decanting residents, while necessary in some cases, does also cause disruption to the lives of the residents, especially those with school age children.

 

The pods are now beyond the end of their useful life. If the Council does not undertake the proposed works it will not be able to deliver the planned capital investment works to bring these properties up to the Decent Homes Standard, in accordance with the Asset Management Strategy 2020-25.

 

By delivering this project in two phases, we are able to start the works on the solely tenanted dwellings, while keeping our committed consultation with the affected leaseholders. Homes for Haringey will proceed with Phase 1 where the buildings are occupied by only Council tenants, whilst preparing Phase 2.

 

To maintain best value from each resource required to deliver this project, phase 2 will come for decision at a later date. If Phase 2 is agreed and awarded to Engie, the mobilisation works undertaken during phase 1 can be utilised preventing additional associated costs.

 

Supporting documents: