Council makes history with housing PFI first

Ashford Borough Council has become the first shire district authority to agree a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deal to regenerate a housing estate.

The Kent council this week put pen to paper on a 30-year contract that will unlock Government funding to transform the run-down Sixties-built Stanhope estate. It will facilitate around £200 million in investment over the duration of the contract.

The Chrysalis consortium will undertake a massive regeneration project on Stanhope over the next five years - replacing nine unpopular blocks of flats with more than 400 new homes for rent, shared ownership or sale on the open market. There will also be a new commercial centre with shops, a pub, a community building and improved public spaces.

Ashford Borough Council head of housing Tracey Kerly said: “This has been a hugely complex process but ultimately will benefit thousands. It’s not just a straightforward refurbishment contract to bring homes up to standard but full-scale regeneration of a mixed-tenure estate with more than 1,000 homes.

“As well as a better environment we aim to create a far more balanced community by introducing a mix of rented, shared ownership and open market housing.”

The council was awarded PFI credits by the Government in 2000 but restarted the tendering process for private sector partners in 2005 after losing confidence in a previous consortium. Chrysalis was appointed in July 2006 and the contracts closed in nine months – believed to be another record.

Tracey Kerly added: “We were bold enough to pull out of the process with the previous consortium at a critical time because we did not think the proposals emerging were right for the people of Stanhope.

“It gave us the opportunity to have another look at what we and the community wanted to achieve from the PFI, which in turn gave the new bidders a massive steer about what was expected.

“With quality new housing designed to meet the community’s needs, a more safe and secure environment and major investment will create a new identity for Stanhope and shake off a negative image.”

The council set new standards in resident involvement in the process, consulting widely from day one and attracting massive participation in the design brief, the selection of Chrysalis as the preferred bidder and the planning process.

Tracey Kerly said of the PFI process: “Although it has been a long, hard road, there is no other way we would have been able to get that sort of an investment into the estate, bearing in mind the bulk of the regeneration work will happen in the first three to five years.”

Stanhope was built as overspill housing to relieve over-populated London boroughs. Like many similar developments of that era, the estate was designed on the Radburn principles of separating traffic from pedestrians.

But that inward-looking layout has, over the years, acted as a barrier to Stanhope integrating with the wider Ashford community, which is undergoing considerable growth and development. It has been stigmatised as a run-down area with anti-social behaviour problems and physical barriers to improvement.

Tracey Kerly added: “This contract signing is a massive step in our commitment to turn around Stanhope’s status as an island of deprivation in a sea of relative affluence. It will bring benefits to the entire town.”