Agenda item

Report of the Corporate Director of Culture, Strategy and Communities. To be presented by the Cabinet Member for Placemaking & Local Economy.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST MADE FOR THIS ITEM:

None

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

1.    Approved the commencement of a procurement exercise in accordance with Contract Standing Order (CSO) 2.01(b) for the new?build development of 61 council homes at High Road West, Phase 1A, for the anticipated total contract sum set out in the exempt report.

2.    Delegated the appropriate route to market for High Road West, Phase 1A to the Chief Procurement Officer in compliance with the Council’s Contract Standing Orders.

Reasons for decision:

These recommendations enabled the re?commencement of the Scheme and facilitated the rehousing of residents on the Love Lane Estate into new permanent homes within the Scheme, in line with the commitments set out in the Love Lane Landlord Offer, which had been the subject of a positive resident ballot. The Council utilised Affordable Housing Grant funding from the Greater London Authority (GLA), already drawn down for the delivery of Phase 1A, helping it meet the milestones within those agreements. These steps created momentum and resulted in meaningful progress on site while work with Lendlease to agree a route forward on subsequent phases continued, with the aim that these would follow the delivery of Phase 1A.

Phase 1A provided 61 council homes on Council?owned land, including M4(3) wheelchair homes and family homes, along with associated refuse stores, cycle stores, service space, amenity space and landscaping. The council homes had been developed with Love Lane residents through engagement dating back to 2018. The site was granted detailed planning permission in August 2022 as part of the hybrid planning application for the Scheme (planning reference HGY/2021/3175), and a subsequent Non?Material Amendment application was approved in July 2023 (planning reference HGY/2022/3937).

Financial appraisals supported by an independent cost consultant demonstrated that the Phase 1A scheme was viable for delivery by the Council and that value for money could be achieved via the procurement route described in the report.

Under the Council’s Contract Standing Orders, item 2.01(b) required Cabinet approval to commence a procurement exercise for proposed contracts valued at £500k or above. The works contract for Phase 1A included the construction of the 61 new?build council homes and the demolition of the existing 100 Whitehall Street building (also known as Whitehall Lodge and located within the Phase 1A red line boundary), which was a Council?owned emergency?accommodation hostel and was due to be decommissioned prior to redevelopment.

The Phase 1A works contract was also planned to include the demolition of the 2–32 Whitehall Street residential block, part of the Love Lane Estate. This block was nearly vacated, and the Council’s rehousing team were working with tenants to relocate households into alternative accommodation within the estate prior to the completion of the new permanent homes at Phase 1A. Demolition of the empty block would improve the environment for residents on the estate and offer opportunities for temporary uses on the site prior to development, benefiting the local community.

Alternative options considered:

Not to proceed with direct delivery of Phase 1A
The Council could have chosen not to proceed with direct delivery of Phase 1A, following the removal of the site from the Development Agreement with Lendlease. However, this option would have meant that there was no route to delivering a 100% council?home scheme that had already secured detailed planning permission and would have enabled the rehousing of around half of Love Lane residents. This would have resulted in further delays to meeting commitments in the Landlord Offer.

Although this option would have allowed the Council to retain 100 Whitehall Street as emergency accommodation, it would have left a site that had been partially demolished and was experiencing issues with anti?social behaviour. The existing Whitehall Lodge building would also have required significant investment to continue operating in the medium and long term. The provision of emergency accommodation would instead be met at alternative sites in the borough if Phase 1A were delivered. For these reasons, this option was discounted.