Agenda item

[Report of the Director of Housing, Regeneration and Planning.  To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for House Building, Place Making and Development]

This report seeks approval to acquire the long leasehold interest in 177 s106 residential units within Hale Wharf Phase 2, Tottenham Hale N17.

The Cabinet Member for House-Building, Place-Making and Development introduced the report which sought approval for the acquisition at pre-construction phase of 177 homes in six blocks at Hale Wharf in Tottenham Hale for housing purposes as Council homes at Council rent.  If approved, the acquisition would provide high quality homes in a development which would not otherwise meet the need for socially rented homes, 27 of which would be wheelchair accessible. 

The Cabinet Member and Officers responded to questions from the Cabinet and Councillor Barnes:

-           If the decision was approved, it was anticipated that work would begin on site within six months.

-           There may be opportunities to acquire further units in the future, but this was not the case at the moment.  Any further acquisitions would require Cabinet approval.

-           Value for Money would be achieved with the acquisition, and a substantial grant from the GLA would contribute to the budget for purchasing the units.  The properties would not be purchased on the open market, so the purchase price would be less than the open market price.

Further to considering exempt information at item 21 it was,

RESOLVED that Cabinet

1.         Approve the acquisition of the long leasehold interests in six residential blocks in Hale Wharf Phase 2 from Waterside Place Limited Partnership for the Package Price and based on the Heads of Terms and Business Case as set out in Exempt Appendix 2. The blocks consist of 177 residential units contained within the S106 agreement for Hale Wharf Phase 2 which will be converted for use as Council homes at Council rent and also 14 private for sale units which will be retained by the developer.  

2.         Approve delegated authority to Director of Housing, Regeneration and Planning and after consultation with the Head of Legal and Governance (Monitoring Officer) and Cabinet Member for House-Building, Place-Making and Development to agree legal documentation and complete the transaction.

Reasons for decision

The acquisition of these residential units will allow the Council to secure the rapid delivery of another 177 new Council homes at Council rents.

There is an overwhelming need for social rented homes in Haringey. This acquisition will help the Council to meet that need by converting 143 shared ownership and 34 Affordable Rent properties in this development to 177 homes at Social Rent for rent to those on the Council’s Housing Register who most need them.

The conversion of shared ownership homes to homes for Social Rent will also deliver an improved mix of genuinely affordable homes within the scheme as a whole and in Tottenham Hale more widely, better meeting the needs of local people.

The homes to be delivered are very well located and will be of an extremely high quality. Delivering them as Council homes would help to create an inclusive environment in a development that has adopted the Healthy Streets Approach to embed public health in public realm.

The acquisition is supported by the HRA Business Plan and by GLA grant funding.

Alternative options considered

Not to acquire the homes. This option was rejected because it would represent a missed opportunity for the Council to:

•             Secure 177 Shared Ownership and London Affordable Rent homes for conversion to use as Council rent tenancies.

•             Avail of substantive GLA grant funding from the Building Homes for Londoners Programme.

•             Assist in maintaining momentum and progress in the overall Tottenham Hale regeneration area.