Croydon Council’s cabinet has agreed a number of actions on the future of Brick by Brick where the developer will finish several housing projects pending a council decision on whether to sell the company.
Cabinet agreed on Thursday that Brick By Brick will complete projects due to finish by this October, and a number of longer-term developments will be marketed for sale.
The council is also planning to buy up to 190 homes from Brick By Brick using its Housing Revenue Account (HRA), subject to the homes being affordable within the HRA. At the same time the council will consider whether to sell the company, with a final decision being made by May 2021.
The council will also put the College Green site next to Fairfield Halls on the market. This received planning permission in April 2020 for more than 420 homes, shops and community facilities.
There is a wide range of sites that will now not be developed by Brick By Brick, and the council will decide what to do with each site based on the best option for local taxpayers. This will be either by the council developing the sites itself using money from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), selling to other developers or keeping the sites.
The cabinet decision follows an external strategic review commissioned last autumn, where consultants PwC examined Brick By Brick’s finances, governance and future developments.
“The council’s top priority is having robust, sustainable finances, and a key part of this is resolving the future of Brick By Brick and its development projects so they bring maximum benefit and minimum risk to local taxpayers.
“Our focus now is to make sure that those sites currently underway are completed by this autumn so Brick By Brick pays money owed to the council and more local people on our housing waiting list can get a much-needed home.
“We also have plans to buy up to 190 homes from Brick By Brick using some of our dedicated housing budget – this is important because it would mean even more local residents can access genuinely affordable homes. Cabinet will decide by May on both the future of Brick By Brick itself and what happens to the longer-term sites.”
Councillor Hamida Ali, leader of the council
