Agenda item

Report of the Corporate Director of Adults, Housing and Health. To be presented by the Cabinet Member for Housing & Planning (Deputy Leader)

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning, and Deputy Leader of the Council introduced the report.

It was explained that Haringey Council aimed to provide fairer housing across the borough, safe, warm, comfortable, affordable homes for all and that it had a major retrofitting and refurbishment plan for council homes across Haringey. In the Noel Park conservation area, the Council retrofitted hundreds of homes. 103 had already been finished on Farrant Ave, Morley Ave and Moselle Ave, with another 131 on Gladstone Ave getting underway. New roofs, windows, doors and other key upgrades were made to keep homes warm and dry – and to cut the cost of heating them for residents. Affordable homes didn’t just have genuinely affordable council rents; they were made affordable to run – these works helped to bring energy bills down.

It was explained that the Council also fixed up the interiors at the same time in Noel Park, putting in new kitchens and bathrooms – bringing homes up to the Decent Homes standard. This was just one project in the wider mission to get 100% of council homes in Haringey to Decent Homes standard by 2028.

In response to comments and questions from Councillor Cawley-Harrison, the following information was shared:

• Officers explained that the Council was continuously assessing the market to ensure that the delivery of the contract for Noel Park was good value for money.
  
  
• It was explained that would be no increase in costs to leaseholders from any additional works, and that any increased costs from the proposals would be absorbed by the Council.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

1. Approved a variation of the contract with Equans Regeneration Ltd (formerly Engie Regeneration Ltd) by an increasing the Noel Park project budget from £21.46m to £32.2m, an increase of £10.7m; and also approve an increase in the professional fees budget from £847,000 to £1,270,500, an increase of £423,500, to enable the completion of essential Health & Safety and Decent Homes as part of Noel Park project, with funding allocated from the existing Cabinet approved HRA capital investment programme budget.

Reasons for the decision:

Cabinet had approved the award of a contract to Engie (now Equans Regeneration Ltd) to carry out major works on the Noel Park estate following a full procurement process. On completion of the procurement, the Council, through Homes for Haringey, had decided to split the project into two phases:

Phase 1 - 103 tenanted dwellings located on Farrant Avenue, Morley Avenue, Moselle Avenue and on Gladstone Avenue.

Phase 2 - 131 homes on Gladstone Avenue which were occupied by both tenants and leaseholders.

Phase 1 of the Noel Park project had been practically completed at the end of May 2025, with works to 103 properties having been completed.

Phase 2 works had commenced on 88 properties and PODs had been installed in 14 properties. However, works had been suspended pending the approval of additional funding by Cabinet to allow the completion of the project.

Current spend to date for the completion of Phase 1 and works completed to date on Phase 2 was £20,263,308, excluding professional fees, against the Cabinet-approved budget of £21.46 million. An increased project budget was required to enable the completion of essential health & safety and Decent Homes works and the completion of the project. The increased professional fees were based on the increased scope of the project and additional activities including party wall notices.

This increased budget was required due to:

i) Significant enhancement to the original scope of works due to the condition of these period properties and their Pods, which were significantly beyond their designed life span and presented significant health & safety risks due to previous underinvestment, and the need to ensure these homes met and maintained the Decent Homes standard and complied with statutory and regulatory requirements. In addition, as Noel Park was a conservation area, works to the properties required different and often complex construction methods and materials from those originally specified.

ii) The increase in costs due to the extension of time as a result of the impact of the COVID pandemic on the original procurement, contract award and planning process; Brexit and the global material shortages and the subsequent inflation in global material costs and UK labour rates.

The increased budget would enable the completion of all essential health & safety works to all in-scope properties; for the Council tenanted properties to be brought up to the Decent Homes Standard and the overall completion of the project. The enhanced scope of works included:

Programme Delivery

The completion of Noel Project Phase 2 works would be undertaken operating under a contract with a defined scope of works, delivery programme, and contract sum. A period of remobilisation would be undertaken to prepare for the works to recommence, and this would include detailed planning for each individual property and significant resident engagement to prepare residents for the extensive works being undertaken in their homes. In order to ensure Value for Money and effective and efficient project delivery, a robust governance and contract management approach had been implemented which included:

• Monitoring of project progress through the Housing Capital Board.

• A dedicated project team with a dedicated Senior Project Manager, Resident Liaison Officer, a dedicated Equans site project team and dedicated Ridge team to provide assurance and support the administration of contract.

• An extensive verification of all previous and future claims submitted by the contractor by Ridge, the appointed multi-disciplinary consultant, to ensure payment claims were in line with terms of the contract and were reasonable and evidence-based.

• Regular analysis of key project risks so that these could be closely monitored and risk mitigation strategies put in place.

• Regular joint Lessons Learnt reviews to identify areas for improvement and ensure lessons were learnt and weekly reviews of residents’ complaints, customer feedback and completed customer satisfaction questionnaires.

• Enhanced communication activities and initiatives aimed at improving the resident experience.

• Identifying opportunities for improving the critical path for delivery such as agreeing a reduced lead time with LB Haringey Highways Road closures which were required when Pods were craned into place.

The funding for the additional project budget including the additional professional fees, would be through the HRA Capital Programme Budget approved by Cabinet as part of the HRA Business Plan.

The need for additional cost to complete these essential works had been anticipated for some time and factored into Asset Management’s major works budget spend plans for 2025/26 and 2026/27. This would have no impact on the ability to achieve 100% decency by 2028 and budgets for 2025/26 and 2026/27 had been allocated accordingly.

Alternative options considered

Option 1 - Halt Project & Reprocure

This option would have involved the completion of all works in progress, the suspension of any new works and the procurement of a new contractor to complete the works. This option was discounted due to the timescales required to reprocure the works and obtain new planning permission; the impact on residents (tenants and leaseholders) due to the delay; the potential for increased costs given that a new contractor would be taking over partially completed works; increasing material and labour costs; and potential contractual disputes. In addition, there were likely to be potential claims and significant reputational damage.

Option 2 - Close Down Project

Completion of all works in progress. No new works orders issued. Decent Homes & Essential Works added to future programmes. Evaluation of options for remaining PODs. This option was discounted due to the following issues: failure to resolve significant health & safety issues, achieve Decent Homes targets; essential works would be delayed and the impact on residents.