A Wates joint venture (JV) has rejigged its approach to kickstarting a 1,380-home estate regeneration project in Essex after fire safety rules delayed progress on plans for tall buildings.
The contractor-developer, along with its JV partner Havering Council, is currently redesigning high-rise buildings on the Waterloo Estate regeneration project in Romford – which was originally given permission four years ago – to incorporate second staircases.
With the redesigned buildings not set to be submitted to the regulator until near the end of this year, the JV is planning two new lower-rise schemes to get the development going.
Second staircases are mandatory in all new English residential buildings over 18 metres in height, effective from 30 September next year.
Last month, Wates submitted “meanwhile” temporary-use plans for 18 modular homes on land that is earmarked for the planned final phase of the scheme.
It is also preparing a detailed application for 109 affordable homes in lower-rise buildings – originally planned for later phases of the scheme – that received outline permission in 2021.
The modular homes are expected to be relocated to other areas of the borough in around 2032 when the final phase of the scheme is delivered, the council said.
The forthcoming planning application for permanent homes will provide 66 classed as social housing (London affordable rent) and 43 as shared ownership.
Wates revised its approach to delivery after the scheme was paused in 2023 due to uncertainty over rules relating to the provision of second staircases in tall buildings.
Havering councillor David Taylor told Construction News that the council and Wates had been “too slow” to bring forward revised plans.
“It would be nice if they had thought about that a bit earlier on because those blocks would be near completion by now,” he said.
“I think the council and Wates have been too slow and have missed opportunities as well.”
It has now become a very “expensive delay”, he added.
Taylor cited the announcement in January that the council had been forced to overspend its budget for temporary accommodation by £6m, and also noted the council’s recent successful application for a loan of £88m to balance its books.
However, in a statement provided to CN, councillor Graham Williamson, Havering’s cabinet lead for development and regeneration, said: “There were a number of factors that contributed to the decision-making around when to bring forward blocks 9 and 10, including building safety regulations, inflation, etc.
“We’re satisfied that we have achieved this as quickly and efficiently as we can.”
Earlier this month, Construction Leadership Council co-chair Mark Reynolds said delays in approving higher-risk buildings, as well as delays in the planning system and around nutrient neutrality, were causing particular problems for construction companies in the housing sector.
In January, the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) admitted that it had only allowed construction to start on two out of 130 higher-risk buildings (HRBs) so far.
Philip White, the head of the BSR, told MPs yesterday (18 March) that there were “quite serious failings” in applications for gateway-two HRB approvals, which are required under the Building Safety Act.
White added that the BSR was “having to reject nearly 70 per cent of building-control applications for gateway two”, adding that “nearly 40 per cent of applications have to be invalidated before they are even assessed, which shows the industry can’t get its head around providing the most basic paperwork”.
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Joshua Stein