By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
Nine council flats and 15 houses on the site of a former care home have been given the go-ahead, despite them already being £500,000 over-budget.
Oakdene Residential Home, at the junction of Woodborough Road and St Ann’s Way, closed in 2019 and was demolished a year later.
Before its closure, just four of the 24 beds were in use, and Nottingham City Council decided to close the facility because it had come to the end of its economic life.
Nottingham City Homes (NCH) was granted planning permission in August 2020 to build a three-storey building with 48 one-bedroom council flats, but this scheme was deemed no longer financially viable and it was replaced by fresh plans for nine flats and 15 homes.
During a planning committee meeting on December 21, Cllr Leslie Ayoola (Lab), who represents Mapperley, asked for “clarity” on any potential detriments of the scheme, after it was revealed NCH would not be providing a financial contribution for the betterment of the area because of soaring costs.
Developers are typically obligated to provide a financial contribution to the local area if a scheme is given the green light, and this is known as a Section 106 agreement.
This money is put towards employment support, affordable housing and other improvements in the area where a scheme is planned.
However because the cost of the Oakdene scheme has risen by roughly 12.5 per cent, in excess of £500,000, it was proposed no financial contribution to the area will be provided.
Responding to Cllr Ayoola’s question, council officer Martin Poole said: “It is a slightly unusual situation, because this is a scheme that is being financed partly by Section 106 contributions of other developments towards the provision of affordable housing.
“These are council houses so the economics of the scheme are calculated in a slightly different way.
“So, essentially, there are constraints on what Nottingham City Homes can charge for rents, there are costs that have risen considerably because of the gestation period of the project.
“Essentially, normally with Nottingham City Homes, they have dealt with these by an internal transfer of funds from one area of the council to another, so when schemes are able to make contributions that’s not a problem.
“But in this case, that is particularly challenged because the sixty-odd thousand additional costs to the scheme is already very, very challenging.”
Because the scheme has become significantly more expensive to deliver, the £63,429 required to meet Section 106 objectives would add to the overall costs of the scheme, which had already been forecast to be in excess of £500,000.
Therefore, because the development is already partly-funded by Section 106 money from other developments, it is understood that to meet these objectives more Section 106 funds intended for other schemes would be required.
Officers therefore said it was “appropriate” to waive any Section 106 contributions so the financial position is not worsened.
Councillors gave the scheme the green light following discussions.
