Southwark Council spent over £15 million preparing for Maydew House’s refurbishment but now wants to demolish the building entirely.
A council report has revealed that councillors are set to approve the demolition of the Abbeyfield Estate block in Bermondsey on February 6.
The report also shows that £15,219,786.70 has been spent on Maydew to date, including over £8 million on jobs that included ‘works and fees on refurbishment proposals’.
While some of the works were necessary for demolition anyway, millions has been splurged on designing a refurbishment set to be binned.
In the report, Southwark Council makes the case that money spent on refurbishment has not been wasted.
It suggests that those designs, as well as pre-construction service agreements, have helped them realise that refurbishment is not the best option.
A ‘soft strip’ of the building, demolition of the podium, and heating infrastructure diversion, are all necessary for demolition too.
According to the report, demolition is the best route, partially because a full refurbishment would cost approximately £69,644,677 due to inflation.
It is unclear how much it would cost to build a brand new residential block on the site, nor whether the council plans to do so.
The refurbishment, planned since 2012, would have meant five new floors of 24 flats on top of Maydew and complete makeovers for existing flats.
In a foreword, Cllr Darren Merril, cabinet member for council homes and homelessness wrote: “The Abbeyfield Estate and Maydew House have a long history. This paper goes into that history and the efforts made to bring forward a refurbishment project for Maydew House.
“This has included adding on top of the Maydew to provide new homes but unfortunately after some detailed engineering calculation of the existing frame it has come to light that the existing frame would require a significant investment to bring it up to standard and would not provide value for money in terms of quality of home.”
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Southwark Council began decanting residents from Maydew House as early as 2015 as it geared up for the refurbishment.
Tenants and residents, all of whom now have left, were told they’d get priority on new flats once they were finished.
Since then Abbeyfield Estate residents have complained about living on a “building site” for nearly a decade.
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When the News exclusively revealed in November that Maydew House would be put forward for demolition, residents questioned why they’d been made to put up with life on a construction site for so long.
Southwark Liberal Democrats accused the council of “mismanagement” and wasting taxpayers’ money, when it was revealed that at least £111,000 had been spent on security to guard the empty block.
But those figures are dwarfed by the sums revealed in the latest report.
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The report notes that, in 2019, the refurbishment of Maydew House was costed at £42,173,573
But in the two years since, inflationary pressures have increased this to £69,644,677 – now considered too expensive.
The Abbeyfield Estate is also home to Damory House and Thaxted Court, home to 37 tenants and 22 leaseholders.
The report outlines plans to “undertake a detailed consultation and engagement process with residents of Damory House and Thaxted Court over options for the future of their estate”.
Southwark Council has been approached for comment.