Agenda item

The Sites Manager for Regeneration & Economic Development introduced the report and the rationale of the report was outlined.

It was noted that the proposals within the report report allowed for the expansion of affordable workspace in the borough.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet Member for Placemaking and Local Economy:

1. Provided delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Culture, Strategy and Communities to undertake further due diligence, negotiate and agree the terms, and approve the final funding agreements for the recommended workspace project for the Opportunity Haringey Workspace Fund.
   
   
2. Allocated up to £1.5m of external grant funding, as set out in Section 3, to the following project with a funding gap, the details of which were set out in the exempt part B report:
   
   
3. Noted that the timescale for the fund has now been altered and will be delivered by September 2026 when the aforementioned workspace will open.

Reason for decision

The rationale and context for Opportunity Haringey Workspace Fund was set out in the Cabinet Signing Report 12 March 2024.

The March 2024 decision had anticipated providing funding to the property owner of a site in Wood Green in which the commercial space had been fitted out and let to an organisation who had facilitated the use of the space by multiple businesses.

However, following a process of due diligence and funding term discussions the following amendment was proposed to the Wood Green affordable creative workspace project only: the proposed funding allocation had gone to a proposed workspace provider (the proposed tenant as opposed to the property owner) for operating space at the same site. Noting that the proposed workspace operator wasn’t part of the original arrangements set out in the March 2024 decision report.

The proposed allocation for the project was up to £1.5m, as opposed to up to £1.863m in the March 2024 decision. The forecast inclusive economy and placemaking outputs met the external funder requirements and were similar to those set out in the 12 March 2024 decision.

The external funder had agreed to an updated timeframe of the works completing in July 2026 and the space opening in September 2026.

In conclusion, the proposed amendment to the Opportunity Haringey Workspace Fund included:

(a) that the funding recipient was the proposed tenant who will operate the space, not the property owner or one of their group companies;  (b) lower budget for the project of £1.5m down from £1.863m (c) minor adjustment to the outputs but that still met the external funder requirements; and, (d) different timescales as approved by the external funder and set out above.

Alternative Options Considered

Officers originally considered the following options:

Providing funding to the property owner as originally had anticipated, but thwas was not preferred due to the property owner not being able to agree to a claw back provision should the space be used for a different purpose in the coming decade. This was a standard requirement and the proposed operator was able to accept the claw back provision.

Officers considered returning the funding drawn down to date from the City of London Corporation (as detailed below). However, setting up the fund had been deemed to be in the best interests of Haringey as it had enabled a further £1.5m grant funding from the City of London Corporation to be invested in the borough to increase employment space which was needed to support jobs and inclusive economic growth.

Re-allocating the £1.5m grant finance from the external funder to the two other approved Opportunity Haringey Workspace Fund projects which were in Tottenham, but this had resulted in a loss of valuable additional creative and affordable workspace in support of the cultural and creative quarter in Wood Green.