Court of Common Council
FRIDAY 12 DECEMBER 2025
Agenda Item 7 | To consider a report relating to investment in the City Corporation’s housing stock (from Policy and Resources Committee)
SUMMARY
The City of London Corporation’s housing stock requires a level of investment that is unaffordable from within the current ring-fenced funds of the Housing Revenue
Account. 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. Your Policy and Resources Committee, having
considered the significant issues facing the City Corporation’s housing stock and with
the support of your Finance Committee, accordingly recommends the allocation of City
Fund capital funds of up to £151.77m (including optimism bias).
RECOMMENDATION
The Court of Common Council is recommended to approve the allocation of up to
£151.77m of City Fund Capital funds (including optimism bias) over the next 10 years
to support the major works renovation programme to bring the existing housing stock
to a good condition.– Deputy Chris Hayward, Policy and Resources Committee
Full report can be read here:
Policy and Resources Committee – Investment in Social Housing Stock
Watch from 10:34
transcript
10:34 | Deputy Chris Hayward (Broad Street) – Chairman of Policy and Resources
When this honourable Court met in June, the overwhelming view of honourable Members was a commitment to restoring our housing so that we are proud to display our crest, and so that residents can live in housing worthy of our great City and indeed of London. The plan for approval today has been a team effort and I want to pay tribute particularly to the contributions of the Chairs of Finance and CCS Committees, the Chair of the Housing Subcommittee and our lead Member for residents, Jackie Webster. We identified some months ago an expedited 10-year investment plan reduced from 20 years of Major Works to address much needed repairs and maintenance across our estates, including windows, roofing, heating, fire safety, and electrical compliance. Today, honourable Members are being asked to approve additional capital funding from City Fund of £152 million for the Housing Investment Program which has a total program cost of £211 million over 10 years. On the recommendation of the Chamberlain and following the approval of your Finance and Policy and Resources Committees, an additional optimism bias of £79 million is included to manage unknown future inflation and construction costs.Now, honourable Members have received an email from Alderwoman Grekos that challenges the numbers and tries to encourage Members to raid City’s Estate, damaging our long-term financial stability. I might, I think, be forgiven for wondering whether the Alderwoman’s commitment is to housing or to a determination to weaken the Corporation’s finances and our ability to be the Government’s partner of choice in pursuit of economic growth. Of the total program costs, including optimism bias which amounts to £290 million, £138 million pounds can be funded through the housing revenue account through credential borrowing and leaseholder recharge. The remaining £152 million will be drawn from City Fund and is before us for decision today. This 10-year investment will significantly enhance the quality, safety, and sustainability of the City Corporation’s homes across the City, Hackney, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark, and Tower Hamlets, enhancing our commitment to London as a whole. What we have before us today is a fully costed plan, as I promised in June, that meets our responsibilities to residents and I hope that honourable Members will unanimously support it.
13:57 | Alderwoman Martha Grekos (Castle Banyard)
I’m the first here to say that I’m passionate about my city and the belief in the Corporation despite that I may not always hold the same views as Chris Hayward. So, I’m certainly not here to weaken the Corporations and raid their City Estate. The report before us gives the impression that his approval by the Court today will solve the problem of funding the renovation of the Corporation’s housing estates. A quick look at the report’s own figures, however, shows that this problem will not be solved by this approval. I explained how the figures do not add up in an email that I sent to all Members two days ago. I would emphasise just two points in that email. First, only around £41 million of funding, out of a total requirement of nearly £290 million, is described as certain with the rest ranging through various degrees of likelihood to more than £47 million not being accounted for at all.Second, the report refers to Leaseholder contributions in an unspecified amount. Based on an amount mentioned in previous public reports, those contributions will be unaffordable for most Leaseholders. This would result in many of them being forced to sell their homes. Who though, would want to buy a dilapidated flat that carries a big liability imposed by a Freeholder offloading the cost of its own failure to maintain its estates. If it is the intention of this report is to draw a line under this embarrassing issue it will not succeed. All this report proves is that the all options approach that the Court favoured in amending my original motion has not worked. The logical thing to do now is to recognise that the only credible source of funding for the deficit not covered by the sitting fund is our so-called private wealth fund, the City’s Estate. So, I’ll end on this line, and one for you to think about today and over Christmas. Isn’t that the only moral option?
16:40 | Dawn Frampton (Cripplegate)
First of all, may I say what a pleasure it is to address a Lady Mayor, it is a proud moment for this Court. I also want to thank everyone who joined the recent Golden Lane walkabouts and sent messages of support – that engagement matters. For decades, rental income has not been reinvested back into our estates. Instead, we have relied on reactive maintenance. Where has that money gone? At the time, it did not fund building new homes, that is a more recent development. So therefore, residents’ expectations today are entirely reasonable.I appreciate the significant work and effort that has gone into reaching this stage. As the report states, if these works are not undertaken, the building fabric of our housing stock will continue to deteriorate. It also indicates that Leaseholders across all estates may face substantial charges, costs that have inflated by years of inadequate maintenance. Can the Chair of PNR assure us that Leaseholders will not be left facing financial hardship, or worse, financial ruin? And will his Committee explore practical ways to support them as part of this program?
18:14 | Deputy Andrien Meyers (Aldgate)
My parents always told me to ensure that food, clothing, and shelter are the three most important things to any human being. And it’s the third point that I’d like to touch on – shelter. The vision for our Corporation is clear. Build more social homes across London. That ties in with the Government’s agenda. However, we do have 3,000 units, 2/3s of which are with rented and a third which are with Leaseholders. We need to do this from a Decent Homes Standard. Every individual has the right to a decent home. Our fiduciary responsibility not just to the Regulator for Social Housing but to every person that needs a decent home. Our housing stock is not up to scratch. So, my first point my Lady Mayor – we have a fiduciary duty to ensure that our residents are looked after.Yes, as Dawn has mentioned earlier, there has been a significant underinvestment in our housing stock. Now, thanks to the Policy and Resources Committee, Community and Children’s Services Committee, the Finance Committee, and various other Members, working in collaboration with the tireless work that our officers have put in have found a solution. This Court gave an instruction to find where the source of funding could come from. All options were looked at and this paper makes it very clear that the £152 million that the Chair of PNR has referred to has been found. It is our duty, not just from a financial perspective, but also from a fiduciary perspective, to look after our residents. My Lady Mayor, I speak on behalf of our Chair, I speak on my behalf but I also I speak as just a person. It is our duty to look after our residents.
20:48 | Sarah Gillinson (Aldersgate, Labour)
As others have already said, this is a really significant moment. For the first time, we have in front of us a real plan for funding the core investment that is required to bring, as Andrien has said so eloquently, all of our homes up to the decent and safe standard that all of our residents should expect. Now, we should wholeheartedly approve that today, I believe, alongside holding ourselves to account for making sure that we also source the money required for the additional costs that are likely to occur as costs rise. Absolutely right. And I also want to pay tribute, we’ve already paid tribute, to Chair colleagues who’ve been part of this, but to colleagues particularly in Cripplegate, Dawn and Ceri and Anne, who over many years have fought for this. So, this is of high significance and absolutely we should vote for this today.But in all honesty I also want to urge us to focus on the future. So, when we talk and work with residents the thing that they are concerned about, of course is having the money, but much more importantly than that is getting on and spending it in such a way where they can see real high quality change at pace that really works for them in their lives. That’s where our energies should be now, not in arguing amongst ourselves about the precise sources of the additional money over time. And we’re already beginning to see the value of that approach.
Several people have talked quite rightly about the importance of giving Leaseholders a fair deal today. Now, next week in the Golden Lane Major Works Renewal Board, we have two items on our agenda. One is to look at a methodology for ensuring fair and reasonable Leaseholder contributions to this process, along with how we’re going to communicate with residents about what it is they actually need to know about this process. If there was any more evidence that we needed, that what we now need to focus on is how we work in partnership with residents and officers and members to get this work done, I think that’s got to be the example. So, let’s approve this today, but then let’s be focused on the real work which is working in partnership between residents, Members and officers to get this spent fairly and well and quickly to improve residents lives soon.
23:16 | Deputy Marianne Fredericks (Tower)
I think everyone agrees that this report is worthy of being supported, but I am once again rather disappointed with the comments of the Policy Chair who shoots the messenger. And for those of us who have been raising the issue on our housing stock, the dilapidation, the backlog of repairs and maintenance, we have for many years been shot. We’ve been vilified. We’ve been ostracized. And it’s incredibly sad to see that once again that continues. The Alderwoman raises some really substantial points about the figures and it’s really interesting to see that yesterday’s announcement that the Barbican first phase, £191 million pounds, will proceed at speed and intense construction and consolidation of projects, so that that work would be carried out over two years or so. And that’s what’s needed with our housing. And to do that, we need the extra funding. Otherwise, we really do run the risk of the regulator taking housing off of us as it’s deemed not fit. But as the Members point out, the residents have been living for over 10 years or more with these promises. This is a 10-year project. It was a five-year project which was rolled into another five-year project which has now been rolled into another 10-year project. They really need to see some change. And to do that, there’s needs to be that consolidation and intensive work. And I’m surprised that we are concerned about selling some of our investments because we see further on that we’re asked to sell investments to cover some further costs. And we also did this with Cross Rail when we sold a number of our investments to raise the funding.So, I really think today, yes, you can say we have made progress, we have taken off our rosy coloured glasses and we finally acknowledge the state of our housing. But I think we need to go further and realise that the sums here, I do not believe will resolve the issue and neither will charging the Leaseholders unsubstantiated amounts, will cover the costs and ultimately we will have to look at some of our investments to see how we can raise further funds. So, whilst I welcome this, I think this is stage one and I would like to see us continue to look at our investments and how we can raise up further funding to ensure that the residents do see the change that they have been waiting 20 years to see.
26:02 | Deputy Helen Fentiman (Aldersgate, Labour)
I’ve heard many Members in recent weeks and indeed this afternoon give support to the investment proposals that are put forward today to improve our social housing. And I’m very grateful for that and of course, I also give my full support to this program. But I also want to say is that this work hasn’t just happened in the last six months. I recall attending a Question Time perhaps two years ago, maybe longer, with Chris Haywood in the early days of his tenure as Chair of Policy and Resources, where we heard residents say how they found the condition of their homes below the standard that they should rightly expect. We listened to that and initiated a piece of work which was to assess all of our properties, not just those that within the Square Mile. And it has taken possibly two years to get us to the point where we have a good understanding of what needs to be done in each of these housing estates that are included in this program.I should say though, this is in addition to a program that has already been underway over a period of time where we’ve been investing £110 million in our homes and those Members who have been able to visit the estates more recently will see what a difference that investment has made. It is fantastic and people enjoy the comfort of their homes as a result of the work that we’ve undertaken. I do today want to give assurance that subject to the final approval of this, we will deliver the 10-year program. Residents have waited too long for essential repairs and upgrades to their homes. Looking to the future, I absolutely agree with my colleague from Cripplegate about that being the next important step. Detailed plans are being developed for the implementation of the refurbishment and work is progressing at pace and that is for each estate, and each estate is in a slightly different stage of development but nevertheless there is a focus on all estates. We will deliver this program and residents in all estates are being included in the discussions about the changes to their homes. We have to achieve Decent Home Standards. I believe that this program will help us do that, but having achieved that, it’s only the start of the story we must continue to maintain those homes in the condition in which we expect to achieve at the end of this program. I commit on behalf of the Community and Children’s Services that we will endeavour to do that, as we bring new homes into being and as we improve these homes. The income into our Housing Revenue Account will allow us to do that.
28:56 | Anthony Fitzpatrick (Lime Street)
I’d just like to firstly express thanks to all of those who’ve been involved in preparing the report and indeed finding the funding. It was interesting when we talked in June and what we’ve heard today. We just need to look at the conclusion of the paper to see why we have to vote this through today. This is about ensuring that residents are living in good quality, secure, safe, warm homes. Having seen the condition of some of our properties outside of the Square Mile in Lambeth and in Southwark, this is long overdue. So please do vote for this today.29:59 | Deputy Bethany Coombs (Castle Banyard)
We’ve heard talk in here about the figures, and we’ve heard some talk about humanity and the residents, but these people are human beings. There’s plenty of highfaluting talk about being bold and moving forward and modernising the Corporation. But it seems to me that as soon as a Member suggests something that doesn’t quite fit in with what the establishment might want them to suggest, that there’s a sharp intake of breath and everyone is horrified or, we can’t possibly do that because it’s never been done before. So, are we just talking the talk about modernising and moving forward and changing and becoming bold, or are we just going to continue to fail the residents who I’m sure over the years have lost trust in us and we need to regain that trust. And I think of the residents who will be sitting there this Christmas worrying about what is going to happen, where they will find the cost if they have to find it. And I think sometimes this get lost in the debate about figures and I do think that Alderwoman Grekos has some excellent points, and I do think that she should be shown some respect in listening to them, rather than the sharp intakes of breath and moans and groans that sometimes seem to go around this Court when somebody speaks up against something.31:45 | Deputy Ceri Wilkins (Cripplegate)
Can I just remind everyone this isn’t just about Leaseholders, it’s also about tenants and the homes that they’re living in, which are substandard. And can I also just make a request from the Chairs of all the relevant committees that this isn’t just about the work that needs to be done now, but there’s also about the planned maintenance going forward for the next 50 years, not just the next 10.32:28 | Deputy Chris Hayward
Thank you for a good discussion and debate where views have been expressed, I’ll do my best to cover the points that have been raised as quickly as I can. Firstly, dealing with the point raised by both Alderman Grekos and Dawn Frampton around the Leaseholders which is an important point that we need to consider, but I’m assured that officers across the Corporation are already assessing the implications of the Leaseholder charge. They will bring reports to CCS Committee to agree a fair and a transparent approach to repayments together with any mitigations that may be appropriate given the scale and the complexity of the program. So, we do not want our Leaseholders to be frightened or fearful, we want to reassure them and we will do that in the coming months.I feel I want to just bring us back to the central point that the people who live in our homes deserve safety. They deserve dignity. They deserve comfort. Look, the only difference between the position I take and that of Alderwoman Grekos is on the funding mechanisms. Nothing else. I’m sure we all ultimately want people to live in good homes.
Andrien Meyers said, it’s a fiduciary duty and a financial duty, I agree with him entirely. But it’s also most importantly for me a moral duty that people should live in decent homes and I feel that very passionately and I genuinely believe that everybody deserves to live in good housing. I went to Golden Lane and Middle Sex Street a couple of times now, I’ve been around those estates and I have to tell honourable Members I genuinely felt ashamed and appalled to see our City crest on these estates because of the conditions that people were living in.
And Helen Fentimen is correct, this isn’t something we’ve dreamt up in six months. We’ve been talking about it for three years, frankly, we’ve been talking about it for numerous years but did nothing about it. Now we are doing something about it. You may say too late. It’s never too late to give people a decent home. It’s never too late to look after our tenants, to look after those who reside in this City of London.
I agree with Sarah Gillinson as well when she says, today is the start of the journey, we have to hold ourselves to account to this program. This is a long term. It takes 10 years to do this with a very big, big investment that we are actually making. Now, in relation to the point that alderwoman Grekos makes about not every element being 100% funded at today, look, she’s right about the optimism bias, but the optimism bias is not program expenditure, it’s a precaution recognizing the volatility of the construction sector and the length of this program. And we have 10 years to deal with that £45 million that we will need to find on the optimism bias. So, what are we going to do? Hold up today because we haven’t absolutely identified every single last pound. We have got 97, 98% of the funding agreed If you vote in favour today, surely, surely we owe that to our residents not to delay any longer.
This isn’t a matter, let me assure Deputy Coombs, about the establishment, whatever the establishment means, because we’re all 125 independent souls in this Court. It’s about the methodology of which we set about funding this investment and this program, and that’s what I’ve tried to set out in my comments to the Court today. And we have set out that plan and it can be fully funded from the City Fund, it is being funded from the City Fund and we should rejoice at that, we shouldn’t be critical of that we should be delighted because that’s where it should be in City Fund. City Fund is about our local government provision, it’s about our local government services, let me remind honourable Members. But the questions have also been raised about the Housing Revenue Account. Well, like many authorities, our HRA is under real strain. We’ve had capped rental income, volatility in the construction sector, increased health and safety requirements. All of these things have made it difficult for our HRA. But I believe that these pressures, whilst being real, mean that this programme starts to address some of those challenges that we’ve had over many, many years. So, my Lady Mayor in conclusion, I commend this report to the court this afternoon.
The report was carried (approved).
press
15 DECEMBER £151 million approved to fix London housing estates in several boroughs where residents share same landlord
MyLondon | Ben Lynch
12 DECEMBER £211 boost to upgrade 12 London housing estates
Newsroom City of London (press release)
10 DECEMBER City of London weighs private backing for housing upgrades
Mortgage Introducer | Rommel Lontayao
9 DECEMBER City of London explores outside investment for housing projects
Financial Times | Ashley Armstrong + Julie Steinberg
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