Brent’s Wembley Housing Zone – 'Some' Good News! (But what is Brent Council's policy now on unaffordable Shared Ownership?)

Guest Post in a personal capacity by Philip Grant 

 

Architect’s view of Brent’s 250 home Cecil Avenue development.

 

On 14 March this year, Martin’s post “Wembley Housing Zone: Never mind the gloss – what are the details?” shared with us a Brent Council press release, about its deal with Wates to finally build the 250 homes at Cecil Avenue, which it had received full planning consent for in February 2021. The blog included “links” to several of the guest posts I’d written since August 2021, urging the Council to include more genuinely affordable homes for rent in the project, especially homes at Social Rent level which the 2020 Brent Poverty Commission said should be the priority.

 

My “parody” Brent Council Homes publicity photograph (from November 2021).

 

Since 2021, Brent’s plans had been to allow its “developer partner” to sell 152 of the homes on the former Copland School site privately, with only 37 of the 250 for London Affordable Rent, and the other 61 as “intermediate” Council housing (either shared ownership or Intermediate Rent level). 

 

You would have thought that when they arranged additional funding from the GLA, to allow for more affordable homes to be delivered as part of this Wembley Housing Zone project, Brent would have celebrated with another press release, telling us about this “good news” story. Instead, I only discovered it when I spotted an item on the Forward Plan page of the Council’s website, as I was checking whether another item had been included there. It was about a Key Decision made by the Corporate Director, Communities and Regeneration, in April 2023:-

 

There was a “Officer Key Decision Report” on the website, but (true to form) the appendices to it were both “exempt”, so that the press and public were not allowed to find out ‘information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)’. The Report did, however, give an outline of what the amended agreement with the GLA involved:-

 

 

My various attempts, since August 2021, to get Brent to include more genuinely affordable homes at Cecil Avenue, using additional GLA funding where possible, have been ignored, dodged or blocked. I was told that anything other than what the Council already planned would be impossible, because the scheme would not be viable. Now they had an extra c.£10.5m, how many extra affordable homes would they be able to provide? 

 

I had to submit a Freedom of Information Act request to find out, but “Wembley Matters” can (at last) share the Good News!

·      Instead of only 37 of the Cecil Avenue homes for London Affordable Rent, there will now be 59. 35 of these will be family-sized (3 or 4-bed) homes.

·      36 of the Cecil Avenue Council homes will be for Shared Ownership (of which 9 will be family-sized).

·      3 of the Cecil Avenue Council homes will be “Other” affordable homes. (Does that mean at Intermediate Rent?)

·      As before, 152 of the homes being built by Brent Council at Cecil Avenue will be for private sale by Wates (including 20 family-sized).

My title does say ‘Some Good News’. The other part of the Wembley Housing Zone project, across the road at Ujima House, was meant to have ALL of its 54 flats for London Affordable Rent to Council tenants. The revised figures for this block are now:

·      32 for London Affordable Rent (including all 8 family-sized flats).

·      22 for Shared Ownership.

So, the original proposed number of Wembley Housing Zone London Affordable Rent homes was 91 (37 + 54), and the revised number is 91 (59 + 32). Perhaps that is why Brent did not want to draw attention to the extra funding they’d negotiated from the GLA!

The only improvement from the extra GLA funding, and that is genuinely to be welcomed, is that more of them will be family-sized homes for affordable rent, and more will be delivered earlier (Ujima House still only has the outline planning permission approved in February 2021).

Of the original proposed 61 “intermediate affordable homes”, 58 have now been positively identified as being for shared ownership. But didn’t Brent’s Cabinet, just last week, decide to sell off the 23 shared ownership homes it had acquired at the Grand Union development,  because the Council does not have 'the knowledge, experience and the capacity to effectively sell and manage' shared ownership homes?

 

Placard from a demonstration against Shared Ownership.

 

The Report to the 17 July Cabinet meeting clearly showed that shared ownership is well above the affordability level of most families in Brent, and admitted:

 

‘… the market and demand for Shared Ownership, particularly in the latter quarter of 2022 was and has remained turbulent. This is both in terms of too many shared ownership homes available in the market and appetite and demand for these homes reducing.’

 

In a November 2022 guest post, I set out the reality of Brent’s Affordable Council Housing programme, and why they should not include any shared ownership homes. But the decision makers at the Civic Centre are still pressing on with their flawed policies!

 

Cllr. Shama Tatler fronting a publicity photo at the Cecil Avenue site in March 2023.

 

Brent’s March 2023 press release about its Wembley Housing Zone deal with Wates began by claiming: ‘More much-needed housing will soon be a reality following an agreement to build 304 new homes in Wembley.’ From the hard hats and “high-vis” jackets in the photograph that came with it, you might believe that heavy machinery was already at work on the Council-owned Cecil Avenue site, which has been vacant for at least three years.

 

 

The Cecil Avenue site from the top deck of a bus, 26 June 2023.

 

In the extract from the April 2023 Key Decision Report above, it says that ‘start on site [was] recorded on 27 March 2023’. When I went past on the last Monday in June, there was no machinery, no workers and no progress on the Cecil Avenue site, just two portacabins. My recent guest post, 1 Morland Gardens – an Open Letter to the Mayor of London, explains what is required for a “start on site” for GLA funding, and it appears this has not yet happened.

 

It appears that the ‘will soon be a reality’ actually means ‘by 31 December 2026’. Some eventual good news, but I still believe that Brent could have done so much better than 59 “genuinely affordable” homes for rent to Council tenants as part of its 250 home Cecil Avenue development.

 

Philip Grant.

Islamia Primary Governing Body hopeful that more suitable options for school move may be identified by end of Autumn 2023 -stay of eviction until at least the end of August 2024

 

Sofia Moussaoui, Chair of Governors of Islamia Primary School, today wrote to parents and carers, suggesting that a more suitable site for the evicted school might be found than that at Strathcona in Preston ward.

The proposed move to Strathcona has been opposed by the great majority of parents and community that responded to the informal consultation as Wembley Matters revealed earlier this week. LINK

The letter stated:

Following the personal intenvention fo our Founder Yusuf Islam, earlier this week, and a meeting with Cllr (Muhammed) Butt, it has been agreed that Islamia  can remain on the current site at least until the end of August 2024, to enable further consideration of the needs of the school and further work to be done to identify a more suitable local solution, I understand that Yusuf Islam will also be writing to parents and that letter will be sent on when received.

The parents are assured that the Governing Body and Local Authority continue to consider the suitability of the Strathcona site for Islamia Primary School and no final decision has been taken on the suitability of relocating to that site: 'that decision cannot be made until we are clear on whether there will be any other options.'

The mention of a 'more suitable local solution' suggests that a site in Queens Park or Kilburn is being sought, despite earlier Council claims that no site in the area was available.

The overdue formal consultation, to be managed by the school, cannot be carried out until a potential site/s can be included in the proposal.

A parent commented:

This communication sounds more positive compared to past ones and parents are hopeful a local solution will be identified soon. This is a highly successful and resilient school in Brent. We need a good outcome to celebrate a fantastic school that is going to turn 40 this year.

Schools are on holiday but still time to drop uniforms off at Sufra for re-use

 

No Bakerloo service next week between Queen's Park and Harrow, alternative routes

 From TfL

Bakerloo line

Sunday 23 to Sunday 30 July No service between Queen's Park and Harrow & Wealdstone For travel to/from central London, use alternative routes via the Jubilee, Metropolitan, Central or Piccadilly lines, London Northwestern Railway services or local bus routes. For stations between Queen's Park and Harrow & Wealdstone, use bus routes 18, N18, 36, 112, 266, 487, 718 and 719. Bus routes 718 and 719 are temporary routes that will run throughout this line closure. Bus route 718 will run daily every 10 minutes between Harrow & Wealdstone and Queen's Park. Bus route 719 will run every 15 minutes from 07:00 to 19:00 on Monday to Friday only between Wembley Park and Queen's Park. If the strikes go ahead, there will be severe disruption on Tube services. Please check for the latest updates before you travel.

Join in an amazing biodiversity activities-based afternoon at the Welsh Harp on Saturday July 29th 12-4.30pm

 From Thames21

 

Join us for a series of workshops and events at Welsh Harp - all designed to improve awareness of biodiversity and the environment as well as benefiting health and wellbeing.

 

Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre, follow the signs toward Birchen Grove Garden Centre

Birchen Grove,
London, NW9 8RY 

Get involved with offerings from: Let's Grow Brent (with activities running from a stall - come along and join us for potting, talks, demos and more), Forest & Family Stories by Moonlight, Brent Friends of the Earth, a biodiversity walk, Climate Fresk, Brent Scouts, Brent Body Balance tai chi, Brook Way Biodiversity Project talk, Lulubell's Wildlife Rescue, Brent (Young) Wildlife-Recorders, Harrow Nature Heroes and Friends of Welsh Harp.

To sign up for the individual activities, please choose from the add-ons. Spaces are limited for most events so be sure to book a place!

 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/welsh-harp-biodiversity-event-tickets-666747157697

Meet us at Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre - follow the signs towards Birchen Grove Garden Centre using the postcode above. Birchen Grove is a minor road off Blackbird Hill with traffic lights at the junction. Drive/walk all the way to the end of Birchen Grove and straight through the big green gates, following the signs to the Birchen Grove Garden Centre. Continue along the road a short way and the classroom building is on the left before arriving at the Garden Centre.

Public Transport:

83, 182, 245, 297, 302 busses pass within a ten minute walk of the centre. Nearest tube station is Wembley Park.

Anyone with known allergies to bits, stings, must advise us in advance via Eventbrite ™ - and bring their steroid pumps on the day.

If you have any known food or drink allergies, please bring your own snacks and drinks. We will have milk in flasks for hot chocolate at the last event at 3pm Stories by Moonlight, and also in the classroom tea area. Please take care to avoid consumption or contact. We will also have coco -chocolate and coconut milk powder that contain malto-dextrose. This may be an allergy trigger to those sensitive to these ingredients.

Dogs Welcome: Must be kept on leads and under control at all times within the main activity area. No more than two large dogs and four small dogs at any one time within this area. We reserve the right to ask an owner to remove their dog if it is not under control or suffering undue distress. Water provided: Please bring your own bowls.

UPDATED: Police appeal for information after Monday's fatal stabbing in King Edward VII Park, Wembley

 From Metropolitan Police

Detectives are appealing for information after a man was fatally attacked in King Edward VII Park, Wembley.

Formal identification is yet to take place but the man has been provisionally named as Milton Hurlington, 42, of north west London.

Police were called at 21:49hrs on Monday, 17 July to reports of a man in his 40s with a stab injury in the Dene, Wembley, following the attack in the nearby park.

Officers, the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance all attended. Despite the efforts of the emergency services, Mr Hurlington died at the scene.

The investigation is being led by detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command and they have appealed for anyone with information to make contact.

A post-mortem examination has now taken place and established cause of death as blood loss following a stab wound to the arm.

Detective Chief Inspector Linda Bradley, leading the investigation, said: “First and foremost, my thoughts are with Milton’s family and friends at what is an incredibly difficult time. Specialist support is being given by my team, and they will continue to receive this as the investigation progresses.

“At present we believe he sustained his injuries in King Edward VII park and then made his way to the Dene, where residents discovered him and called the emergency services.

“I am really keen to hear from anyone who saw or heard anything out of the ordinary in the park and surrounding areas on Monday 17 July between 6pm and 10:45pm to come forward. Please do not hesitate to get in touch, no matter how insignificant you may think your information to be- it could be the key to our investigation.”

Two man and a woman were arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder and have been released on bail to return at a future date.

A crime scene remains in place at the location and surrounding areas including Kind Edward VII park where the initial incident is believed to have taken place.

Anyone with any information that could help the investigation should call police on 101 and give reference 8258/17JUL23.

Anyone with images or footage which may help the police can also be uploaded here.

Build-to-Rent starts down 80% year-on-year in London as inflation and uncertainty hits capital intensive schemes

 From British Property Federation comes this Press Release with implications for Quintain and others in the Build to Rent market. involved with large capital-intensive schemes.

• Total number of homes completed and in the pipeline increases 12% year on year to more than 250,000
• Pipeline boosted by major housebuilders agreeing to deliver a pipeline of over 2,000 homes for rent
• Construction starts down 55% year-on-year as cost inflation slows delivery of schemes, particularly in London

 

The number of completed Build-to-Rent homes in the UK has increased 13% in the past year to 88,100 units despite market conditions slowing development activity, according to new analysis by the British Property Federation (BPF). 

The research, undertaken in partnership with Savills, shows the total number of Build-to-Rent homes completed, under construction or in the planning pipeline stands at 253,402, up 12% in the past twelve months. Single Family Housing continues to expand strongly with 28,000 units completed or in the pipeline, making up 12% of the Build-to-Rent sector. 

The number of homes under construction increased by 9%, buoyed by major housebuilders agreeing forward funding transactions with investors comprising over 2,000 homes for rent. Meanwhile, the number of new Build-to-Rent homes in the design and planning phase increased 13% to 111,815.

However, build cost inflation and wider economic uncertainty looks set to slowdown delivery with construction starts totalling 5,549 units in the first half of the year, down 55% on the same period in 2022. In London, where high land values mean schemes are typically larger and more capital intensive, construction starts totalled just 836 units, down 80% year-on-year (from 4,415 in H1 2022). 

Ian Fletcher, Policy Director, British Property Federation, said: 

Build-to-Rent is continuing to expand but the sector is not immune to the current economic uncertainty and cost inflation. At the current time it is very challenging to deliver large-scale capital intensive schemes, particularly in London, but there are fewer obstacles to the delivery of smaller developments in regional cities and single-family housing both which continue to grow as a proportion of housing supply in UK cities.

Jacqui Daly, Director, Residential Research and Consultancy, Savills commented:

With interest rates now expected to stay higher for longer demand for new homes for sale is likely to be weaker which will constrain housing delivery. Build-to-Rent will have a key role to play in maintaining overall housing supply, and in the last quarter we have seen examples of major housebuilders agreeing to deliver a pipeline of rented homes, which has boosted the pipeline. The continued diversification of the profile of BtR deliverers is critical to its continued growth.

Islamia Primary move to new site and closure strongly opposed in informal consultation.

Islamia Primary School has responded to my Freedom of Information Request with some of the information requested over the proposed move of the school to another site, Strathcona, in Preston war of Brent.

The summary of informal consultation responses shows that the majority of parents and the wider community reject both Options offered in the consultation. 96 parents did not want to move to Strathcona and want Islamia to be offered the new South Kilburn building (currently ear-marked for Carlton Vale Infants and Kilburn Junior School) or another suitable site in the area.

Options offered in the consultation.

 

Option 1. For the school to relocate to a new site (the only one offered was Strathcona)

Option 2. For the school to close with pupils moving to other local schools with spare places.

 

I requested pupil mobility data to see how uncertainty over the future may have affected the school. There has been movement but Islamia operate a waiting list and state that the school is full at 420 pupils. 

 

 

The timetable for the move as tabled by Brent Council is now way behind and there appears to be little prospect of the school moving in time for a September 2024. The Council paper said that the Yusuf Islam Foundation had agreed an extension of the eviction to January 2025 only if there are unforseen events. The delay in the start of statutory consultation, apparently in order that mitigations for the move be agreed between the school and Brent Council, may not qualify as an unforseen event. 

 

 

The school responded to my request for copies of all correspondence with the Yusuf Islam Foundation and Brent Council regarding the eviction notice on the school and the subsequent search for alternative premises, survey/s of the Strathcona site and refurbishment/new build proposals, by saying that the request should be made to the Foundation and Brent Council.

Following the school's response I have sent another FI request:

1. Are the Governing Body going to undertake a statutory consultation on the move of Islamia to the Strathcona site (or another site)?

2. If so, what mitigations have been agreed with Brent Council?

3. If so, what is the timeline for the statutory consultation?

4. If the school is to move what is the timeline/target date for opening of the school on the new site?

5. Has a new eviction date been agreed with the Yusuf Islam Foundation?