£85m funding blackhole in Lancaster West Estate refurbishment
Local Democracy Reporter, Adrian Zorzut
A residents’ association on the same estate as Grenfell Tower has said “not a penny more” should be spent on refurbishment works after the council announced an £85m funding blackhole.
David O’Connell, from the Lancaster West Walkways Residents’ Association (LWWRA), one of two RAs operating on Lancaster West Estate (LWE), said there must be independent oversight of the project to update all 826 properties on the estate before any more money is handed over.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “They have done very noisy, intrusive works and turned our homes into building sites with very little impact assessment. I don’t think it is possible to do this level of refurbishment with people in situ. Especially for already traumatised residents who went through the horrors of the fire.”
It comes as a report by Kensington and Chelsea Council (RBKC) shows the estimated cost for refurbishing Lancaster West Estate jumped from £118m in 2018, when works were designed, to £244m last summer. Of the revised budget, £85m is not currently secured.
The report said the rising cost is due to the high standard of refurbishment being undertaken and the “hyperinflation” of construction costs. The council said “historic neglect” of the site and the complex nature of the redevelopment were also to blame.
The report read: “Alongside the inflationary aspects felt by all the sector there has been a need to build in risk cost into budgets to recognise historic neglect of the stock and the increased costs which are borne once projects arrive on site and the true extent of works is known. There are a number of examples of where the condition of LWE homes and blocks has been worse than assumed through visual surveys alone, which has increased costs when on site.”
But Mr O’Connell said the works have been anything but high quality. He claims homes have been refurbished multiple times because of the poor quality of work. Some have leaks and mould, he said.
He said: “I have emails about how badly the works are being managed – ignoring quiet times, the inadequate respite which is the same as they offer in the rest of the borough. As for the leaseholders, they are trapped as they cannot sell their homes, even if they wish to. They are being billed for the incompetent works and mistakes.”
It’s a sentiment shared by Kimi from Grenfell Next of Kin. She said residents have run out of patience after eight years of loud building works and no permanent gas boiler.
She said: “The temporary boiler will be blaring out full heat in the summer, and break down stone-cold dead in the winter. It is the residents that are paying for such inefficiency.”
She too claimed there have been multiple times where works have been completed only to be ripped out a weeks later and redone. She said: “There has been no oversight of what is going on at the estate. The refurb was left entirely in RBKC’s hands with people who have no experience of such a complex retrofit.
“The project management is entirely inhouse. It is, just like Grenfell Tower’s refurb was, another dreaded ‘R’ word only this time instead of the TMO (Tenant Management Organisation), it is the Lancaster West Neighbourhood Team who has replaced the TMO but operating with the same culture towards the ‘rebel residents’.
“If the Central Government is to bail out Lancaster West and the Royal Borough with taxpayers’ money for their botched job so far, it must come with some serious strings attached, including a layer of management and oversight that is actually experienced in the real world with refurbishment.”
The LDRS understands the works, which are partly funded by Central Government, are scrutinised at quarterly refurbishment programme board meetings between representatives of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the LWWRA and the council, the last of which was on Wednesday, May 7.
According to the council report, residents have been involved from the design stage of the programme and have fed into the plans and designs on a block-by-block basis. It also said 92 per cent of the residents who responded to a council survey in 2023-24 were in favour of the refurbishment.
Some 72 per cent of respondents are satisfied with the overall service, while 79 per cent said they were satisfied with the Lancaster West Neighbourhood Team. The same report said the length and extent of the programme meant that most, if not all, residents will experience disruption from the refurbishment.
The council said its team is working on a household-by-household basis to support residents through that disruption and offers residents respite services. The LDRS understands the temporary boiler will be removed by 2026 and replaced with a connection to the Notting Dale Heat Network.
David said building costs for this project have escalated far above the national average. ONS data shows construction output prices peaked at 33pc in May 2023 and continued to decrease over time. He said this hasn’t been reflected in the costs for the refurbishment, which have doubled since 2018.
He said: “All the residents want is working services (such as the door entry system), new windows and a new boiler. There is money for that. They need to do the basics first – they haven’t managed any of that in eight years.
“As a leaseholder, if they had demolished the estate as they first planned to, I could have sold my flat back to them at a rip-off price but at least I could move on with my life. As it is we are trapped here and will be for years to come.”
Kensington and Chelsea Council said it is exploring “a range of avenues” to increase funding, including working with the Lancaster West Residents’ Association to appeal directly to the highest levels of government. It is also seeking financing options and reinvesting any savings into the programme.
But Kimi said getting residents to appeal to the government was a form of “cynical exploitation”. She said: “What I found really disgusting is not only is there no plan but no independent oversight from a project management perspective. Getting residents to appeal directly to the government is cynical exploitation. It’s reprehensible.”
The LDRS understands more than 60pc of homes have now had internal refurbishment works completed. This includes new kitchens and bathrooms with integrated appliances, smart thermostats, new radiators, energy efficient lighting and new electrical cabling.
The council has also installed moisture monitoring equipment and is only aware of damp and mould cases in the homes yet to be refurbished. Cllr Sof McVeigh, Lead Member for Housing, said: “We are committed to making Lancaster West a model 21st century housing estate.
“Residents have been involved throughout the refurbishment and have been instrumental in the design of the programme. I know from meeting people on the estate and from regular survey results that lots of residents are supportive of the refurbishment, but work of this scale is inevitably disruptive.
“We take residents’ concerns seriously and work with our contractors to minimise the disruption. We offer a respite scheme so people who are able and want to stay in their homes can do so in relative peace.
“We have vacant flats for people to rest or work in and we offer days out from the estate. We also offer the option of moving out temporarily, with financial support for people who opt to stay with friends and family.”
She said the council has so far committed over £100 million to the refurbishment and is working hard to find a funding solution with partners including the LWWRA and the Government to close the funding gap.
The project seeks to bring flats in line with the Decent Homes Standard, a government-set standard for social housing. This includes retrofitting each block, making flats energy efficient and drawing heat and hot water from a 100per cent renewable heat network.
According to the council, the forecast investment per property ranges between £100k – £300k per home, depending on the scope of works, size of property and works required. It will also extend a discount to leaseholders living on the estate.
The council has secured £159m in funding so far, the majority of which – £108.3m – has come from its housing revenue account. Some £24.9m has come from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in the form of a grant and £25.8m has been fundraised from external grants such as the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund by the neighbourhood team.
It has also promised to keep the scope of the programme under review and has already removed the development of new homes from the programme, installing lifts in two blocks and bolt-on balconies.
PICTURE: Facundo Arrizabalaga and MyLondon
