EIR - Windmill Court redevelopment [Apr 2023]

Your request

1. Please provide copies of all except purely administrative correspondence between GLA Housing and Land or GLA Planning and the London Borough of Brent or Network Homes, between 1 January 2022 and the current date concerning Windmill Court housing expansion.
2. LBB has advised Kilburn Square estate residents and the Kilburn Square Stakeholder Group that it will no longer start on site by 31 March; it therefore will no longer be eligible for funding from the AHP 2016-2023 scheme, is that correct? Has there been discussion with LBB about funding the scheme from the 2021-26 allocation, and if so with what outcome or expected decision timetable? If such funding is being agreed, what conditions may or will be attached in terms of tenure mix (over and above the guidance in the attached February 2023 guidance letter to investment partners)?
3. Did the previously anticipated grant allocation include an element for demolition of two daytime-use buildings? And is there such an element for the scheme if it is now to be funded from the 2021-26 programme?
4. The Mayor stipulates that pre-engagement on projects receiving GLA funding should be 'transparent, inclusive, responsive and meaningful'. The Kilburn Square Infill project, 139 units with no demolition of existing homes, is neither referable nor requiring a ballot under current rules. In those circumstances, who, when and with what process and criteria from the GLA assesses compliance with that requirement?
5. Please provide copies of all except purely administrative correspondence between the GLA and LB Brent concerning Kilburn Square between 5 February 2023 and the current date.

Our response

1. Please find attached the information we hold within the scope of your request; note that redactions have been made to schemes which are unrelated to the Windmill Court Redevelopment.

A small amount of further content is exempt from disclosure and is considered to be exempt from disclosure by virtue of the disclosure-exception provision found under regulations 12(5)(e) of the EIR. This has been marked within the attachment where it applies. The information is covered by the common law obligation of confidentiality, the information is not trivial in nature, nor is it in the public domain and relates to commercially sensitive figures which form part of a negotiated bid process which has not yet concluded.

Disclosure of the information would inevitably harm the confidential nature of it and therefore the exemption at Regulation 12(5)(e) is engaged in respect of disclosure of the redacted information. Regulation 12(5)(e) is as qualified exemption from our duty to disclose information under the EIR, and consideration must be given as to whether the public interest favouring disclosure of the information covered by this exemption outweighs the public interest considerations favouring maintaining the exemption and withholding the information.

The GLA acknowledges that there is a public interest in the delivery of the Affordable Homes Programme. However, it is not in the public interest to release information which would be likely to prejudice the position of our partners in future negotiations and any procurement exercises. We therefore find that the public interest is balanced in favour of non-disclosure because of the harm its release would cause.

Please note that some names of members of staff are exempt from disclosure under Regulation 13 (Personal information) of the EIR. Information that identifies specific employees constitutes as personal data which is defined by Article 4(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to mean any information relating to an identified or identifiable living individual. It is considered that disclosure of this information would contravene the first data protection principle under Article 5(1) of GDPR which states that personal data must be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject.

2. The Affordable Homes Programme 2016-23 funding allocation for the infill housing development on the Kilburn Square Estate has been withdrawn as the project is no longer able to start on site by 31 March 2023 and therefore not eligible for funding under this programme. The GLA is in regular communication with the London Borough of Brent to discuss opportunities to build additional housing in the borough.

The funding requirements for the next Affordable Homes Programme 2021-26 are set out in the Programme Funding Guidance and the GLA’s Capital Funding guide.

Homes for Londoners: Affordable Homes Programme 2021-2026 Funding Guidance

Affordable Housing Capital Funding Guide

The funding requirements for any future grant funded programmes will be published on the GLA’s website and discussed with Brent where appropriate. 

3.   Affordable housing grant is provided for the development of affordable homes and the works that facilitate them. Before the funding allocation was withdrawn the Kilburn Square infill development received a grant allocation to deliver 139 homes (99 London Affordable Rent homes and 40 other affordable homes). 

4.   The Mayor’s expectation that councils’ and housing associations’ consultation with residents on estate regeneration plans should be transparent, inclusive, responsive and meaningful is set out in Better Homes for Local People: the Mayor’s Good Practice Guide to Estate Regeneration.

This sets out the Mayor’s expectations for how local authorities and housing associations should engage with residents as part of all estate regeneration schemes, not just projects that are seeking Mayoral funding and for which planning applications are referable to the Mayor.

Better Homes for Local People is a guide, rather than a set of mandatory requirements. As such, the GLA expects and promotes adherence to the guide, rather than systematically assessing compliance in all cases. The GLA uses a number of the Mayor’s tools to do so, as follows:

Policy H8 of the London Plan, which covers estate redevelopment, states 'All proposals for [estate regeneration] schemes should take account of the requirements of the Mayor’s Good Practice Guide to Estate Regeneration (2018) and the requirement for a ballot of residents when accessing Mayoral funding for schemes that involve demolition.' (4.8.4) The London Plan is legally part of each of London’s Local Planning Authorities’ Development Plan and must be taken into account when planning decisions are taken in any part of Greater London. Planning applications should be determined in accordance with it, unless there are sound planning reasons (other material considerations) which indicate otherwise.

All Development Plan Documents and Neighbourhood Plans have to be ‘in general conformity’ with the London Plan under section 24 (1)(b) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

The funding guidance for the Mayor’s Affordable Homes Programmes makes clear that all estate regeneration schemes seeking funding from these programmes should take account of the expectations set out in the Mayor’s Good Practice Guide. Paragraph 8.2.1 of the Capital Funding Guide states “[Investment Partners] undertaking estate regeneration projects should… adhere to the principles set out in Better homes for local people: the Mayor’s good practice guide to estate regeneration.”

The Mayor also promotes his Good Practice Guide in his London Housing Strategy, with which section 333D of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 requires London local authorities’ statements of local housing policies must be “in general conformity”. 

5.  Please find attached the information we hold within the scope of your request; note that redactions have been made to schemes which are unrelated to the Kilburn Square infill development.  

If you have any further questions relating to this matter, please contact us, quoting reference MGLA170323-2890.