Agenda item

To receive a report which sets out a project overview for the three recent housing delivery projects at Pitwood Park, Cromwell Road & Lee Street, including the Council’s key reflections and learnings from these recent housing delivery projects undertaken between October 2020 and August 2022.

RECOMMENDED that Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

Notes the report on Lessons Learnt: Pitwood Park, Cromwell Road, and Lee Street.

Members received a report on the Council’s key reflections and learnings from three recent housing delivery projects at Pitwood Park, Cromwell Road and Lee Street undertaken between October 2020 and August 2022.

Several advance questions had been submitted regarding Lessons Learnt: Pitwood Park, Cromwell Road & Lee Street. The advance questions and responses can be viewed here:

Document Advance Questions and Answers OS 12 October 2023 | Reigate and Banstead Borough Council (moderngov.co.uk)

Councillor Neame, Portfolio Holder for Housing and Support gave an overview of the work undertaken.

The Council undertook the construction and delivery of three new-build housing led schemes between October 2020 and August 2022. This report presents the key reflections and learnings from those housing development projects.

Pitwood Park was delivered in August 2021 and is a good example of a mixed tenure development with some homes being sold on the open market, and others being sold onto a Housing Association for re-sale as shared ownership properties.

Whilst the expenditure was higher than anticipated at the time of Executive approval, but within the budget allocation, the Council was able to generate a greater capital receipt than was originally anticipated due to higher sales prices at point of sale.

There were challenges on this site due to the type of contract used as well as due to site conditions. Officers have addressed the key lessons learnt from these in the report and learnings will be applied for future developments.

Cromwell Road was delivered in February 2022, and the 32 flats have been retained by the Council for social housing.

The Council were delighted to have been successful in securing Homes England grant funding for these schemes which provided cross-subsidy of £1.36m. The development was recognised as the region’s Best Large Social Housing Development in the LABC Building Excellence Awards 2022 which was testimony to the excellent quality of build.

Lee Street was delivered in August 2022, and now provides 4 much needed 1-bedroom temporary accommodation homes for those in real housing need. The development had an extensive history and at times the delivery of the project seemed unreachable. However, with subsidy from Homes England a successful project has been delivered.

In addition, the Senior Development Manager shared a PowerPoint presentation showing the completed housing projects.

Members made observations and asked questions on the following areas:

Pitwood Park

It was confirmed that although the exact price obtained by Raven Housing Trust on the sale of these homes was not known, they were sold by Raven Housing Trust on a part buy/part rent basis and the Council had received fair value for the units sold.

Members requested details of the onsite contamination. A written response would be provided following the meeting.

It was confirmed that a JCT Design & Build contract was typical for housing association and local government use, as it passes more risk to the contractor, rather than the local authority, and is more widely used at the current time.

Cromwell Road

Members commented on the length of time taken to remediate outstanding defects and asked whether lessons had been learnt with regards to: a)  tenants being contracted to make themselves available for repairs to be carried out and b) higher retention figures on contracts. It was confirmed that the 1.5% retention was standard, but it was recognised that nine months was a long period of time to remedy defects. It was confirmed that it had been a small number of properties delaying the works and that all defects had now been made good.

It was confirmed that there had been interest in the commercial units at Cromwell Road and that negotiations with potential clients were underway.

It was confirmed that there was an intention to move away from gas utilities and it was noted that Lee Street is 100% electric.

Homes England Funding

It was confirmed that Cromwell Road had qualified for Homes England funding, due to it being 100% social housing; Lee Street had qualified for Rough Sleeper Funding. Pitwood Park had not met the criteria for Homes England funding due to the tenures on the site.

Budget and Budget Changes

It was confirmed that the budget history of the developments was available in the reports to Executive, links to which had been included in this report. The original budgets had been approved in 2018. When the current team took over the project in 2020, budgets had been re-examined and both the design and budget for Lee Street had to be adjusted due to necessary changes. Budgets for Cromwell Road and Lee Street had not been changed.

Cost per M²

It was confirmed that the final bill cost per M² was the cost for work, not the project cost. This cost did not include any funding received.

Involvement of Members

It was confirmed that although Members would be consulted and given the opportunity to provide feedback on any future projects, there was a clear delineation of roles and Members would not be consulted in a professional capacity.

Potential Joint Working on Future Projects

It was confirmed that Council representatives meet with Raven Housing Trust monthly and that a close relationship exists. Opportunities to work with Raven would be considered, but this would depend on the project. It might be advantageous for the Council to work alone on projects utilising Council-owned land. The Council would need to be flexible and explore the possibility of different partnerships for different opportunities.

It was explained that compiling lessons learnt information from the earliest stages of the projects was challenging as the officers involved were no longer employed by the Council. Members commended the work of the Senior Development Manager since taking over these projects.

A visiting member had a number of questions to ask on this report. The visiting member was requested to submit the questions in writing for a written response following the meeting.

RESOLVED that Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

Noted the report on Lessons Learnt: Pitwood Park, Cromwell Road, and Lee Street.