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.
“It is anticipated that significant savings can be made without impacting on the overall quality of the development.
“The preferred supplier also scored highest on the quality element and gave confidence in their ability to deliver this project within the programme and budget.
“Additionally, the bid committed to significant investment in the local community through a tangible, measurable social value framework which will form part of the contract.”
The council was awarded a £1.7 million grant from the government’s Brownfield Land Release Fund in June 2021.
The council has also applied to Homes England Brownfield Infrastructure and Land to help cover the costs of putting in new infrastructure on a complex site.
Separate funding bids are being made for each of the two phases of the housing project where the council aims to keep rents low.
The cabinet is due to meet at 4.30pm next Thursday (23 January). The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
