Woking Council applies to government for £58m funding to complete reduced number of homes
Woking Council is applying for nearly £58m in government funding to allow the completion of 363 homes, forming part a regeneration project halted due to the local authority’s financial troubles.
The housing scheme, designed by Belfast-based White Ink Architects, is being built by Gilbert-Ash.
The rest of the Sheerwater project, originally masterplanned by BDP, was intended to deliver 1,142 homes, will now not go ahead, under a new plan set to go before councillors later today (Thursday).
The authority, which in the summer issued a section 114 ‘bankruptcy’ notice, is also considering forward selling the homes and land in the three phases under construction, with the exception of 106 existing properties which will be refurbished.
The Sheerwater regeneration project had been set to deliver 1,142 new homes over a nine-year phase of development. But it now looks set to deliver just 363 homes in three phases.
The development agreement between the council and ThamesWey, the developer of the £492m regeneration scheme, ended in July this year when the council issued a section 114 notice due to financial pressures. The council’s debt portfolio is £1.8 bn.
A section 114 notice is seen as demonstrating a council faces bankruptcy unless action is taken. It restricts a council to only funding statutory services, meaning the council could no longer borrow to invest in the project to the same extent.
This means the council is now seeking additional funding to complete the three phases already under construction by ThamesWey.
Avison Young, the consultant hired earlier this year to assess potential options for the Sheerwater regeneration, has also recommended that the council forward sell all homes at the site, apart from the 106 existing homes, as a single lot or in parcels.
It said many of the 106 existing homes are in poor repair as they have been empty for some time. The estimated cost of repairing these homes is £2.9m and it is thought that the capital receipts from disposal of land and homes will be used to pay for the works.
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The construction work, which started in 2019, has so far delivered a £26m community facility and 106 homes.
Councillor Will Forster, deputy leader of Woking Borough Council and portfolio holder for Sheerwater, said: “We have put forward a robust case to government to draw down funding from the Public Works Loan Board that was previously agreed by this council. It wouldn’t be good for the community and it wouldn’t be value for money for the taxpayer if we don’t complete the three phases already started. In total we are asking the government for £57.7 million to finish these phases and conclude the council’s involvement with the scheme.”
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