Nearly £7m extra to be spent on East London housing projects after council blows budget
Barking and Dagenham Council is expected to spend up to £6.85 million more on three housing projects in the borough as they've gone over budget. The council will inject extra cash into housing developments on Woodward Road, Roxwell Road and a third which is part of the redevelopment of the Gascoigne estate.
All three projects are being delivered by Be First, the council's planning and delivery arm, established in 2017. Cllr Cameron Geddes, lead member for regeneration and economic development, told cabinet members on Tuesday, September 17, that the projects had encountered issues such as the cost of labour and materials going up due to inflation.
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Cllr Geddes said: "There are three projects here which are requiring substantial amounts of extra money to see them through. It shouldn't be a surprise that development projects over the last couple of years have been overspending. The inflation level in general prices was 9 to 11 per cent for a lot of the last couple of years but for construction industries, it's been around 15 to 20 per cent so overall across the portfolio, Be First has actually limited the extra cost to about 3 per cent."
He went on to say the Woodward Road development requires £3.6m while Gascoigne East Block I is in need of £750,000. Meanwhile the project on Roxwell Road, which will deliver 87 new homes with an expected completion date of October 2026, is in need of up to £2.5 million.
Plans to build 56 new homes and provide 600 sqm of community space on Woodward Road have significantly overrun due to the availability of materials as well as delays within building control and utility companies.
Cllr Geddes said there was some 'good news' though as Be First have delivered 745 new homes this year so far, while a further 212 are expected to be completed before the end of 2024.
Of these homes, 79 per cent will be let out on 'affordable' tenures, which includes market rent, affordable rent, London Affordable Rent and target rent.
Speaking on the increased costs, Cllr Dominic Twomey, the new leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, said: "Ultimately we've run out of road on this, it's extra pressure on us but the fact that we are still building future developments with a further 1,350 units is testament to the fact that we're going to keep going."
Cabinet members proceeded to agree the report, meaning the capital budgets for all three projects have been increased.
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