Senior councillors are being asked to approve an extra £800,000 towards the cost of building more than 200 new houses and flats in Brighton.
The cash call comes two years after Brighton and Hove City Council granted itself planning permission for the £87 million project on the Moulsecoomb North Hub site in Hodshrove Lane.
Demolition work on existing buildings started last year.
Next Thursday (23 January) the council’s cabinet is expected to increase the construction budget by £800,000.
The council is understood to be close to revealing the identity of its preferred contractor – the identity of the firm is contained in confidential papers to the cabinet.
Members are also being asked to approve talks to finalise the contract, with input from Councillor Gill Williams, the cabinet member for housing and new homes.
The proposed buildings include blocks of flats up to eight storeys high and a row of eight semi-detached houses. Some 15 homes would be wheelchair accessible.
As well as 212 homes in total, the plans include a library, doctors’ surgery, pharmacy, café, youth services and shop, “3G” sports pitches, skate park and play areas.
The site – currently known as the Moulsecoomb Hub North – would also have some community space with rooms to rent.
When the scheme for new, affordable council homes went before the council’s Housing Committee in November 2021, it was expected to cost £70 million.
Since 2020 the building costs has risen by 20 per cent because of a range of factors from rising labour costs linked to Brexit, covid-19 and global shipping issues.
A report to the cabinet said: “The preferred supplier is a large contractor with extensive experience of delivering construction projects in the private and public sectors, including local authority projects.
“They successfully bid for both lots and will therefore be responsible for the community hub, the residential element and all public realm.
“The whole project will therefore sit under one contract, reducing risk to the council, and allowing streamlined client-side project management.
“The preferred supplier’s tendered price was the lowest received. It is within the range of the pre-tender estimate and with the inclusion of mitigations passes the council’s financial hurdles.
“There is scope for significant value engineering that could be explored with the preferred supplier to reduce the tendered price.
