Update on New Council Homes programme at Brent Cabinet on Monday - worth residents of affected estates checking key details - Church End, Grand Union, Windmill Court, Watling Gardens, Kilburn Square, St Raphaels

 Brent Cabinet will consider an important update on the main new homes project areas on Monday. Affected residents need to check out details particularly over the type of tenure envisaged - does 'Affordable' mean  Council rents, Social rent, London Affordable Rent, Shared Ownership etc? Arrangements for decanting during new build, the amount of green space taken up by in-fill, delivery times are all key:

7.0 New Council Homes Programme (NHCP) - Significant Scheme Updates

7.1 Grand Union (Northfields Site), Alperton. A total of 92 properties are expected to be handed over at the Grand Union site in 2 phases of 46 units each. After the properties were advertised, a successful viewing cycle for the first 46 homes took place in December 2021 into January 2022. A number of clients have viewed, accepted and have beenverified for sign up. Viewings are currently taking place for the remaining 46 properties in phase 2 and sign-ups will take place once the properties have been handed over by the developer.

7.2 Church End (99 homes £5m+). The Council is the freehold owner of the entire Church End Car Park site and has two separate planning permissions to deliver the following:
· Planning permission (ref: 13/1098) was granted for 34 affordable homes, ground floor non-residential use space, a new market square and the stopping up of Eric Road.
· Planning permission (ref: 13/2213) was granted to develop this part of the Church End Car Park site for 65 affordable homes, 7 car park spaces and 298sqm of retail use space.

7.3 The Council is currently evaluating contractor tenders to bring forward the on-site delivery of the above planning permissions. As closing the current Church End market is fundamental to achieving a start on site by March 2022, the Council has adopted the following two-phase plan to relocate the market to ensure that traders are not moved away from their core customer base and that local residents do not lose the benefits of this service provision:

· Phase 1 (March 2022 – July 2022): The Church End market will be moved to one half of the current car park site in order commence enabling works on the vacant half of the site before the end of March 2022. The market will continue operate on a twice a week basis (Wednesday and Saturday) whilst enabling works being are undertaken until July 2022. 

Please refer to Appendix 1 to view Phase 1 of the market relocation plan.

· Phase 2 (August 2022 – August 2025): After the Church Road public realm improvements and bus diversion works are complete, the Church End market will move to Church Road and will remain there until the Church End redevelopment works are complete and the new market square can be used. 

Please refer to Appendix 2 to view Phase 2 of the market relocation plan.

7.4 Officers have provisionally allowed a three-year programme period to complete detailed design and construction of the Church End development. Once contractor appointment is confirmed, then the Council will be in a more informed position on the key dates and these will be communicated to the relevant stakeholders in the near future.

7.5 Windmill Court - The existing estate comprises of 138 - 1,2 & 3 bedroom flats between the existing tower and the maisonettes as well as a community centre, kids play area and two-storey car-park. Within the maisonettes, there are nine leaseholders and nine tenants, all of whom are being consulted regarding the proposals. Brent are negotiating with the leaseholders to purchase their properties while the tenants will be decanted off-site and have a right to return to the new homes. Four tenants are proving difficult to contact or refusing to engage with us therefore we will need to proceed with the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO)  process ASAP whilst still trying to get a negotiated agreement.

7.6 Officers are aiming for vacant possession by March 2022 with a view to start on site by September 2022. Planning application has now been submitted, which include proposals for the two-storey car park and 16 of the 18 Maisonettes will be demolished. Following this, two new 7-storey blocks will be built offset on either side of the tower, which in total will equate to 60 new affordable housing homes giving a net uplift of 44 units. The two remaining maisonettes will be reconfigured into new studio flats at the base of the tower.

The community centre will be extended and remodelled in its existing location as well as this there will be changes made such as a new children’s play area & half basketball court, the introduction of outdoor adult exercise equipment, upgrades to landscaping (new trees planted), pedestrian routes, site security by way of gated entrances and perimeter fencing and ground level parking.

7.7 In terms of resident engagement, this has been done by way of online resident panel sessions (8 in total), onsite drop-in sessions, regular newsletters, letters, flyers, surveys and phone calls. There will also be an updated webpage on the Brent website with all the communications to date for residents to view. Now that the planning permission has been submitted more resident engagement will undertaken over the next few months.

7.8 Watling Gardens. The existing estate includes 2 x 12 storey towers that will be retained plus 12 bedsit bungalows and a deck access block of 30 x 1 bedroom flats that will be demolished. Decanting and leasehold buybacks have been underway for the last 12 months and are now finalising the last few tenants, who are currently being moved out.

We therefore anticipate vacant possession by February 2022. All tenants who have been decanted have a Right to Return to the new homes and a local lettings policy is in place to enable those living in the retained blocks who are in housing need, to have an opportunity to move to the new homes.

7.9 A planning application has been submitted for 125 new affordable rented homes including a 45 flat extra care scheme with a range of communal activity areas and 24 hour staffing plus eighty 1, 2 and 3 bed and general needs homes. In addition to the new homes, the planning application provides for significant upgrading of the estate landscaping and public realm with a new Multi-Use Games Area and playground. The scheme is due to be considered at Planning Committee on the 23rd February and is currently being prepared for tender to provide for a start on site in June/ July 2022.

7.10 The building works are ready to go out to tender pending planning approval with 3 contractors. We have already had initial contractor discussions in December 2021.

7.11 Kilburn Square, The current site comprises nine buildings, seven that accommodate residential use.

7.12 In the autumn of 2020, the Council started engaging with the residents about a proposed infill development of Council homes. As a result of resident feedback the designs are still evolving; with a focus on reducing height, density and loss of open space whilst still providing a significant number of genuinely affordable council homes.

 

As a result, of the consultation, five options where put forward, the Council is currently considering all five options, following which officers will communicate the outcome to residents. The Council intends to meet the timetable set by the GLA grant funding with a start on site by September 2023.

7.13 Alperton Bus Garage site, Cabinet has approved the acquisition of 155 homes to be let at affordable rents. This former bus garage development will deliver 461 homes altogether, 155 of which the Council will acquire. The Council will enter into a 50 year leasing arrangement, which will see the homes transfer to the Council for a peppercorn at the end of the Lease. The new homes are expected to be handed over during the year 2024/25.

7.14 St Raphael’s Estate, The GLA’s change of approach to the funding of replacement units using grant has placed a large number of regeneration schemes in jeopardy across London and has meant a fundamental rethink into the approach to the overall funding of these schemes. As a result of this change in grant funding coupled with adjustments to the project cash flow model in order to reflect programme and market changes, the redevelopment of St Raphael’s resulted in a project viability gap of -£110.2m. This was considered unviable.

7.15 The Council’s commitment to the residents of St Raphael’s was for a community led approach to the master planning of their estate, culminating in a resident ballot through which residents would be able to demonstrate their support for redevelopment, with infill development being the default option. This route to ballot has always been predicated on having a redevelopment masterplan that was financially viable and therefore able to be delivered.

7.16 In line with this commitment, and because the delivery of the redevelopment masterplan was no longer considered financially viable, the infill masterplan is now being progressed, with a community led approach being followed as before. The infill masterplan consists of clusters of new homes in the north and south of the estate, facing the river along the western edge of the existing homes, and some in underused pockets of land within the estate. It currently has the potential to deliver 370 new homes; 334 flats and 36 houses. The detail is likely to change as the design is developed. Homes are forecast to be 100% affordable, owned and managed by the Council.

7.17 The design of the phase 1 site in the south of St Raphael’s started in July 2021, with start on site currently forecast for winter 2022/23 and completion winter 2025/26. The design team will, as before, take a co design approach to the design of the buildings and public realm improvements.

 

7.18 In addition to the development of new affordable homes, there is the potential to deliver significant place making improvements, which arguably, whilst not as transformational as full redevelopment, have the ability to improve the lived experience for St Raphael’s residents. We have called this ‘infill plus’. Early priorities for delivery in 2021/22 ahead of the delivery of the Phase 1 site, are focused on the issues identified through recent consultation with residents. They centre on improvements to the care and maintenance of the estate and target green spaces, waste management and parking as well as providing a temporary building for use by the community and project team. We have already improved the public realm and dealt with primary issues of residents’ concerns such as; abandoned vehicles, grounds maintenance, basket ball court and the Wates compound. More significant improvements to the public realm, estate connections and community facilities will be delivered alongside the delivery of the new homes over the coming five years, in collaboration with the community.

 

Consideration of wider Council objectives for health, culture, education, climate emergency etc. will also be brought to bear in these discussions.

7.19 South Kilburn Regeneration, Unity place has now completed and progressing well towards full occupation. This scheme will have delivered 235 Council homes as well as an event space, car parking and open spaces. The Neville and Winterley’s scheme is currently in the final stage of the procurement process for a delivery partner. The affordable housing delivered on this site, as well as future developments, is to remain in the ownership of the Council.

7.20 South Kilburn has a number of sites that have been submitted to Planning for a decision in the coming months, this will then lead onto new tender processes expected to go live this year. Officers continue to explore opportunities in South Kilburn to deliver an increased number of Council homes while still ensuring a sensible balance between different housing tenures and place making priorities, as required in the Master Plan. The option of having one delivery partner for the remainder of the masterplan is also being reviewed. Officers are currently working towards promoting opportunities to decant a number of the blocks more quickly. This has arisen due to the desire to avoid long-term maintenance works, which will create unnecessary expense, both for the Council and Leaseholders. This can be achieved by a variety of means including identifying more decant opportunities for residents and accelerating the building programme.