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London councils to set up modular housing company
A collaboration between around 16 London boroughs is set to establish a company to deliver modular housing for use as temporary accommodation.
The company will be used as a not-for-profit vehicle to procure and own factory-built homes, which councils can let as cheaper alternatives to B&Bs or other emergency housing for homeless families.
The units could be moved between sites across the capital where possible and necessary.
London mayor Sadiq Khan has agreed in principle to award the councils £11m in grant from the Greater London Authority’s Innovation Fund.
Umbrella group London Councils, which lobbies the government on behalf of all 33 boroughs, has put forward £20,000 in ‘seed funding’ from its Capital Ambition programme.
East London council Tower Hamlets is leading on the project, with its cabinet expected to approve setting up the company at a meeting this evening.
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Mark Baigent, interim divisional director of housing and regeneration at Tower Hamlets Council, would act as the “initial” director, according to an officer’s report.
Mr Baigent is chair of the London Councils Temporary Accommodation Supply group, which started work on plans for a collaborative modular housing company in 2017. There are 16 councils in the group.
Legal and financial advisors have backed the plans, the officer’s report adds.
Member councils would provide loans to the company, or it would be able to take on private debt independently.
Any surpluses generated would be reinvested back into expanding the project.
If Tower Hamlets’ leadership approves setting up the company, it is likely to be established next month, with other member councils joining in summer.
There were 54,660 households in temporary accommodation in London at the end of September 2017.
