Agenda item

To update the committee on the progress of the Earlesfield Project, providing an overview of the project position, completed works and projected timescales.

The Vice Chairman of the Committee, as one of the Ward Councillors for the Earlesfield Ward, acknowledged the “teething problems” when the project first started. However, now that the project was underway, it was making a big difference to the families that were having their homes refurbished and he placed on record his thanks to the Housing Team for all the work that they had done both in the previous administration and the current administration in respect of the project.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning referred to the long standing problems with about 100+ of the houses on the Earlesfield Estate that had been built to a particular design in 1970s.  It had been recognised by the previous administration that the problems needed to be addressed.  The Cabinet Member had visited the site recently, together with the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Housing OSC and had been impressed with the quality of work being done and he felt that families were getting back brand new houses.  Going forward, innovative house designs would be looked at in more detail to avoid such problems and costs in the future. 

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning confirmed that 23 properties had been completed to date and it was hoped that 30 families would be able to return to their houses by Christmas.  Whilst the work was being carried out on the houses, families had been moved to temporary accommodation.  Mention was also made of the amount of choice that was given to tenants in respect of design and colour for both the kitchens and bathrooms.

The Chief Executive confirmed that there were 154 properties being refurbished on the Earlesfield Estate.  The primary reason for the refurbishments was due to an asbestos survey which had been carried out in 2017 but had not been actioned.  Legislative changes had meant a delay in completing the refurbishments as there had to be a period (two weeks) in between having the asbestos work assessed and allowing the contractors in to start the refurbishment work.   Work was going well with the contractor on site, United Living and the Chief Executive stated that she was part of the project management team.

One Member raised the delays that had been documented at the start of the project and asked if it was now on course and whether there were any extra costs involved. The Vice Chairman stated that he was on public record at the start of the project in respect of the delays but they had been rectified and the project was well underway.  The Head of Technical Services stated that they had wanted the management of the asbestos part of the project to be robust and this management had delayed the project due to the required HSE testing which could not be done whilst the tenants were in situ.  This was being worked through with the contractor on site, United Living and the programme was continuing.     In relation to costs this was currently being discussed with the contractor and there would be transparency over this once these were known.

Members noted the update.