Cabinet set to agree a way forward on Brick by Brick

Croydon Council is set to make a decision on the future of its housing development company Brick by Brick that achieves the best possible outcome for taxpayers while delivering hundreds of much-needed homes.

Under the proposals the council will continue to own Brick by Brick which will, with additional external management and technical support, develop 23 of the 29 sites in its pipeline, with all bar one of them due to be completed this financial year. This will lead to the creation of 774 new homes for local people.

The remaining six sites, which are not yet under formal contract for development, will be marketed for sale with the benefit of existing planning permissions being in place.

The development of the 23 sites will be closely overseen by the council, with enhanced governance systems in place and regular reporting to the council’s cabinet and scrutiny committees.

The plans have been published here today for consideration by the council’s scrutiny and overview committee next week (6 July), ahead of a cabinet decision on 12 July. This follows cabinet approval in February to explore several options on the future of Brick By Brick, which were to either continue all development schemes; or continue most of them while selling others; or a potential sale of the company.

Since then, the council had received an offer from a credible bidder for the purchase of Brick by Brick, which the council examined with due diligence support from external independent financial and property specialists. However, the council is recommending not to proceed with the sale but continue to develop these sites in order to get the best deal for residents.

“Our priority over the future of Brick By Brick has always been to find a solution that both secures the best possible return for the council’s investment on behalf of our taxpayers and provides much-needed genuinely affordable homes for local people.

“We have thoroughly explored our options to find a way forward on Brick By Brick that represents the best possible value for our taxpayers, and I want to thank all our expert external advisers for their important contributions on this. Now our focus is to make sure that the Brick By Brick homes under construction are completed, with all the support and guidance it needs to do that.”

Councillor Hamida Ali, leader of the council

2021-07-01T16:55:02+01:00 July 1st, 2021|Recent news|