City of London to invest £211m in major upgrades across its housing estates

In June, the City identified a “significant shortfall” in its ringfenced HRA, which has very low reserves and can only fund £138.2m of the works through leaseholders recharges, depreciation and borrowing.

The Court of Common Council has therefore agreed to allocate £152m from the City’s fund to enable the works to take place.

“The City of London Corporation’s housing stock requires a level of investment that is unaffordable from within the current ringfenced funds of the Housing Revenue Account,” the report said.

“Significant additional resources outside of the Housing Revenue Account need to be applied to meet the ambition to bring existing housing stock to a good standard over the next 10 years.”

The report outlines additional pressures faced by the local authority in upgrading its homes, such as a central London premium for construction, and its small, dispersed estate, which complicates centralised service delivery and increases operational costs.

It also highlights how the City’s stock has a backlog of repairs, adding that “decades of underinvestment and until recently a lack of a holistic planned maintenance programme have caused persistent overspends on repairs and maintenance”.

The programme also includes £29m of investment in the Avondale Estate in New Cross, £18m for York Way in Islington, £14m in the Southbank Estate, £12m in the William Blake estate in Lambeth and £9m in Middlesex Street in Aldgate.

Chris Hayward, City of London Corporation policy chairman, said: “Providing good-quality, safe homes for our residents is a fundamental responsibility, and today’s decision demonstrates our absolute commitment to that duty.

“This is a major investment in people, communities and the long-term future of our estates. We will accelerate improvements, enhance compliance and deliver the modern, sustainable homes our residents rightly expect.”

Helen Fentimen, chair of the City of London Corporation’s community and children’s services committee, said: “This investment marks a turning point for our residents and our estates and ensures we can continue to deliver on the programme of major works and improvements that is already underway.

“We recognise that the scale of work required has long exceeded the resources available within the HRA, and we have taken decisive action to put that right.

“Our residents deserve safe, warm, high-quality homes, and this next phase of the housing investment programme will deliver exactly that, ensuring we meet the highest standards of safety, sustainability and landlord responsibility.

“We are committed to delivering repairs and maintenance across the board and will ensure that the highest standards then continue to be delivered.”