Southwark Council has agreed to spend a further £29,800,000 on the redevelopment of the Aylesbury Estate in Walworth.
The money, which was promised in a cabinet meeting last month, will be used to buy out leaseholders, to allow for the estate’s continued demolition and redevelopment.
A council spokesperson said the eight-year project was “not over budget” and that this extra money was already planned.
They explained that the Council has a gradual approach to long-term projects where funding is released on a stage-by-stage basis.
“What we do is every time we look at a new phase, we work out how much money we need and then ask for it.”
“We have no overall idea of how much we will spend,” they added.
The council claimed this phased-based approach is better because survey costs, house prices and funding can change over the years, meaning fixed overall budgets are inappropriate.
Consultation launched into next stage of Aylesbury Estate regeneration
An additional £13.2m was also approved to cover an overspend on the first phases of the estate development, which cost £75m.
The extra money brings Southwark’s reported total spend on the Aylesbury Estate redevelopment to £118.29m – so far.
“We want to ensure that council money is well spent and that we get the maximum amount of social rents as possible,” said Jerry Flynn of the 35% Campaign, which fights to ensure councils put in 35% affordable housing in any new developments.
“Obviously we do not object to new council houses. But we want to make sure money is well spent,” he added.
The same cabinet meeting also agreed to make changes to the agreement made between Southwark Council and Notting Hill Gensis, who are redeveloping the estate.
No details were given in the public report about any potential changes or variations to the deal that was first struck in 2014.
“We continue to make progress towards our goal, putting residents at the heart of the future of the Aylesbury, said Cllr Stephaine Cryan, cabinet member for council homes and homelessness.
“We want to make sure the partnership with Notting Hill Genesis reflects the new commitments and we want to deliver more council homes than were previously envisaged in the original agreement,” she added.
Others were uncertain.
“We understand that costs rise, particular as regeneration takes so long, but questions have to be asked about the future of the Aylesbury Estate,” said Jerry Flynn.
“We do not know because we are not being told.”
“At least not yet,” he added.
An announcement about the changes to the deal with developers Notting Hill is expected in the coming months.