Brent Council's Cabinet will decide on July 15th to pay circa £92million for a site sold on leasehold to Telford Homes PLC and Notting Hill Genesis in May 2018 for £3million. REPORT
The Gloucester and Durham blocks will contain 235 housing units and Brent Council will purchase the leasehold interest, merging the leasehold title with the freehold. The units will be let as affordable homes. As they will be counted as new affordable homes they will attract a grant from the GLA towards the cost of acquisition and the remaining costs will be be via borrowing based on the Housing Revenue Account which is no longer capped.
Officers claim that if the homes are let at London Affordable Rents the finance will be paid back in c50 years.
The financial details are in Appendix 1 which is withheld from the public under the Local Government 1972 because it contains 'information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).' The sum of £92m is not mentioned in the report and is presumably in the Appendix but is mentioned in the notice to Matt Kelcher, Chair of Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny (above).
A request for information to the Brent Council Press Office and Amar Dave, Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment went unanswered last week.