To advise Cabinet of the proposals for redevelopment of the Honeycroft, Lawford site following an open tender process.

To seek approval of the acquisition and redevelopment scoring/appraisal for use of the site for housing for older persons purposes.

To seek Cabinet’s approval to proceed with the scheme and with the bid made by Rose Builders.

To seek Cabinet’s recommendation to Full Council that funding from receipts is allocated to the proposals.

To delegate authority to the Corporate Director (Operations and Delivery) in consultation with the Housing Portfolio Holder to determine the detailed scheme content.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)    agrees to the principle of re-development of the Honeycroft site to provide additional housing accommodation to be used for the sole purpose of occupation by  elderly persons;

(b)    agrees the scoring matrix for the use of the site Honeycroft site for redevelopment purposes in accordance with the Council’s Acquisition and Development Policy Assessment, as set in Appendix A to the Portfolio Holder’s report (A.5);

(c)    approves the re-development of the Honeycroft site on the basis of the scheme proposed by the recommended supplier, including the optional flat above the proposed community building and agrees to enter into a contract with them to deliver the Scheme, subject to funding being approved by Full Council as part of setting the HRA budget; and

(d)    authorises the Corporate Director (Operations and Delivery), in consultation with the Housing Portfolio Holder, to determine the detailed scheme content and implement the redevelopment of the Honeycroft site subject to the funding being agreed by Full Council on 14 February 2023 as part of their consideration of the wider HRA Budget Proposals for 2023/24.

Cabinet considered a report of the Housing Portfolio Holder (A.5) which:-

advised it of the proposals for redevelopment of the Honeycroft, Lawford site following an open tender process;

sought its approval of the acquisition and redevelopment scoring/appraisal for use of the site for housing for older persons purposes;

sought its approval to proceed with the scheme and with the bid made by Rose Builders;

sought its recommendation to Full Council that funding from receipts be allocated to the proposals; and

sought a delegated authority to the Corporate Director (Operations and Delivery), in consultation with the Housing Portfolio Holder, to determine the detailed scheme content.

Cabinet recalled that, following completion of the demolition of the former Honeycroft sheltered accommodation in June 2021, it had decided on 16 July 2021 to seek proposals in respect of the redevelopment of the site. An open tender process had now been undertaken in conjunction with procurement partners at Essex County Council.   

Members were made aware that the specification for the scheme had enabled bidders to propose their own designs and construction methods. However, it had been requested that the scheme should be as energy efficient as possible and bidders had been encouraged to be innovative in this regard.  A range of local developers and builders had been advised of the bidding opportunity as were a number of manufacturers and consortia who had contacted the Council over the recent past promoting their development and construction services.

It was reported that proposals had now been received and evaluated, with the preferred scheme made up of fully accessible and adaptable bungalows; a small community facility with optional additional accommodation above; and all associated parking and landscaping to benefit the site.

Members were informed that three submissions were received which had been evaluated by Officers on a combined price, quality and social value basis. The recommended bidder was Rose Builders who had put forward a scheme (proposed site plan attached at Appendix C to the Portfolio Holder’s report) to construct 13 new lifetime bungalows, a small community building with an optional flat above and all the associated landscaping and parking necessary for the site.

The proposed scheme incorporated many carbon reducing technologies, including solar panels, heat pumps, water butts, electric vehicle charging points and even the option of a green wall.

The tender cost submitted for the development was £2,828,717.05, however, there were a number of caveats to this and therefore the sum of £3,250,000.00 was requested as the budget for the scheme.

Recognising that –

the proposed development would provide specialist accessible properties that reflected the past use of the site and were much needed to meet the current housing demand (scoring under the Housing Acquisition and Development Assessment showed an aggregate score of 28);

the properties would be lifetime homes and would provide accessible living for later life and enable people to stay in their own community despite changing physical needs;

the scheme incorporated many carbon and energy saving measures to meet current and future energy efficiency demands, making them cheaper to run and therefore combating fuel poverty;

redevelopment supported many of the Council’s current corporate priorities for 2020 – 2024 as well as the priorities in the Housing Strategy 2020 – 2025;

the proposal made by Rose Builders included the highest number of residential units and scored highest overall in the quality and social value assessments as well as overall when considered in terms of financial and non-financial assessments; and

that Rose Builders were a respected local construction firm who had their main office in the Manningtree and Lawford area and therefore had a vested interest in providing a good quality and successful development for their own reputational reasons in this area.

It was moved by Councillor P B Honeywood, seconded by Councillor Talbot and:-

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)    agrees to the principle of re-development of the Honeycroft site to provide additional housing accommodation to be used for the sole purpose of occupation by  elderly persons;

(b)    agrees the scoring matrix for the use of the site Honeycroft site for redevelopment purposes in accordance with the Council’s Acquisition and Development Policy Assessment, as set in Appendix A to the Portfolio Holder’s report (A.5);

(c)    approves the re-development of the Honeycroft site on the basis of the scheme proposed by the recommended supplier, including the optional flat above the proposed community building and agrees to enter into a contract with them to deliver the Scheme, subject to funding being approved by Full Council as part of setting the HRA budget; and

(d)    authorises the Corporate Director (Operations and Delivery), in consultation with the Housing Portfolio Holder, to determine the detailed scheme content and implement the redevelopment of the Honeycroft site subject to the funding being agreed by Full Council on 14 February 2023 as part of their consideration of the wider HRA Budget Proposals for 2023/24.