Greenside, Alton Road

Hello all

This is our second update following our commitment to provide fortnightly updates on progress at Greenside.

Updates from the Construction team

Mulalley (MCL) is formally reporting the project completion date as September 2024, with the date “currently unknown due to the delay to the commencement of the Section 278 works along with the Virgin Media diversion works for the central and Redwood’s crossovers.”

“Once we [MCL] have an agreement with Wandsworth Highways on the Section 278 Scope of works agreed and a date for the service diversions, which straddle the crossover, we will be able to forecast and give an indication of when the whole of the works will be practically complete and ready for handover.”

Our (Southern Housing) programme manager has estimated a more realistic forecast would be mid-October for completion of the works, excluding the s278 works. Please note this does not mean that the Employer’s Agent can accept the buildings as ready to issue the Practical Completion certification (see the webpage Key milestones and FAQs for more on this).

On-site progress in the latest period has increased significantly. This work includes the following activities:

• The lower ground floor car park is complete with cycle stores and EVC car charging points installed. The car park resin floor finish and demarcation paint work is complete.
• The scaffold has been removed to the front elevation and Mulalley has started the hard landscaping works to the areas fronting Alton Road. This will allow the hard landscaping works to begin week commencing 26 August.
• Within Blocks B and C, the snagging and de-snagging process is well underway; the communal corridors are decorated and awaiting Clerk of Works (CoW) inspections, carpets are laid on all floors except the lower ground (due to water ingress).
• We will be carrying out our witness testing of the plant machinery with Mulalley engineers on 28 – 30 August.
• The initial pre-commencement FRA (Fire Risk Assessment) took place on Tuesday 20 August. This is the first visit, and further visits will be undertaken once the communal areas are complete.

Water ingress – see also update from the Sales team

Due to the water ingress to the lower ground floor, paving to the terraces has been removed. This is to allow a thorough investigation by a waterproofing specialist. The issue has been escalated to Director level at Mulalley, with support by the lead architect and specialist engineers.

Mulalley is seeking to resolve this issue to avoid building defects occurring in the future. This is why their investigations extend beyond the previously advised flats of C06 & C07 to C08, B01 and B02, with all blocks now being examined to determine there are no further weak spots.

Mulalley has advised they’ve made significant progress in identifying the cause of this ingress. They hope to provide a solution before our next update.

Blocks A and D progress

Our Clerk of Works snag and de-snag inspections have started.

The Council will be given 3 months notice to occupy Block A on receipt of the Practical Completion certificate. This will allow mobilisation of the care provider team.

Block B progress

Our Clerk of Works de-snagging inspections and sign off are ongoing for flats on the 1^st to 5^th floors.

As of inspection 14 August 2024:

• 21 of the 28 flats have been snagged
• 20 have been de-snagged
• 11 are complete, awaiting sales sign off

The entrance canopy waterproofing is now complete.

Block C progress

Our Clerk of Works de-snagging inspections and sign off are ongoing for flats on the 1^st to 5^th floors.

As of inspection 14 August 2024:

• 23 of the 26 flats have been snagged
• 0 have been de-snagged
• 0 are complete awaiting sales sign off

Partitioning to the entrance lobby area is in progress, following the completion of roof waterproofing.

Updates from the Sales team

Water ingress

We directly contacted buyers impacted by the water ingress this week. This was as a courtesy to inform them of investigative works in their homes and to their patio areas.

The issue only affects lower ground floor homes. Block C buyers were previously aware their homes had suffered some damage and would require further investigative work.

The lower ground floor homes in Block B were not previously affected by water ingress but they are part of the investigative works. We therefore made a courtesy call to those buyers to advise this.

Site visits for those who missed previous visit

We’ve contacted buyers who’ve not previously viewed their homes to invite them to a viewing day.

We plan to invite those affected by the water ingress to view their homes once the remedial works have been completed to those properties.

Once we’re closer to practical completion, we hope to organise a further visit for those who wish to view their homes again. For now, we want Mullaley to continue working to achieve practical completion without giving them any reason to break off.

Offer of good will payments

We have previously agreed to contribute toward mortgage arrangement fees and valuation costs, subject to receipt of payment. This is for those whose mortgages expired and who were unable to extend. Where agreed, these will show as a deduction on your completion statement.

We also agreed to pay toward reasonable storage costs for those who had reserved homes prior to April 2024, subject to receipt of payment. This is discretional, based on individual circumstances and should be discussed with Jade Skates or Sarah Dodds. This will also be shown as a deduction on your completion statement.

In exceptional cases we can make a one-off payment. Please discuss with Sarah or Jade if you require a one-off payment. Our decision will be based on individual circumstances.

Our internal financial system has restrictions that only allow one manual payment outside of completion. This applies to anyone who is not yet a resident with an account set up at Southern Housing.

Next update

Our next update will be on 4 September 2024. You’ll find additional information on our webpage, which is updated more frequently.

Good evening

This update follows your meeting with Jane Williams, Luke Chandler, Vikki Walker and other key members of the Southern Housing team on Tuesday 30 July.

In her email last Thursday, Jane explained that I’d be in touch to discuss the fortnightly updates agreed during that meeting. I’ll be working closely with the Construction and Sales teams to coordinate updates and responses to any queries.

This is the first of the updates and begins with our responses to your questions. I’ve also included information about and a link to a new Greenside webpage that I hope you’ll find useful.

Responses to queries

Several people emailed with questions following the Teams meeting. We’ve summarised the questions and our responses here:

Q1. Why has expected date of completion moved again (this time by 6 months)?

The last update before our meeting on 30 July advised that Mulalley anticipated practical completion on August 27th, with Building Safety Registration to follow in September. This would have allowed for handover in mid-September and occupancies from late September. We emphasised that this timeline was uncertain and subject to change but we shared it in good faith.

Just before the meeting, we were advised this was no longer possible. Further delays had resulted in a change to this forecast. We've asked Mulalley to clarify the cause of these delays and provide a detailed programme of outstanding works.

Until we have this, we believe it best to inform you of a potential worst-case scenario of a further six months. It's not our intention to delay occupation but six months does enable many affected by the latest delay to renew or extend tenancies with more security. Our intention is still to obtain the relevant practical completion and handover for occupation as quickly as possible.

Q2. Can we have a copy of the schedule of works to see what is still outstanding?

Mulalley has not provided a detailed programme of works. However, our in-house programme planner attended site on Tuesday 6 August to assess works against the programme. He has advised that mid-October is a realistic completion date.

Regarding outstanding works, Mulalley has identified a design issue to the lower ground floor of Blocks B and C, which is causing water ingress. This is being investigated by Mulalley and we'll also invite our technical team to inspect and comment. This could delay registration of Block B and occupation of the lower ground floor flats in Block C.

We'll provide a full update in two weeks’ time.

Q3. Can we meet with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) to urge them to speed up the process of registration?

Registering with the Regulator will only take around one week. However, we must then provide a full suite of documentation within 28 days of registration. The Regulator is not able to influence how long it takes us to gather that documentation.

We must be confident we can provide all the required documents BEFORE we register Block B with the BSR. The risk we have if we register before we have everything, is that we're unable to obtain key documents from our contractor within the required timeframe.

We're working with our contractor to make sure these documents are provided in a timely way, but they're not legally bound to provide them until practical completion.

Q4. Can flats in Cyprus House (Block C) be occupied before Yew House (Block B) is registered with the BSR?

Yes, Block C can be occupied once we obtain practical completion.

All blocks have to be signed off by building control, with building warranty CML’s (Council of Mortgage Lenders). This enables them to be issued with practical completion certificates and other important compliance documents.

Once we have these documents, we will register Block B (which is over 18m) with the BSR.

Summary:

• Block C can be occupied once we obtain practical completion.
• Block B – is subject to building registration after practical completion (so cannot be occupied until we receive sign off from the BSR)
• Blocks A & D – these are the Extra Care homes. Once we obtain practical completion there will be a 3-month period for the care provision to be set up with the Council.

Email updates

These will continue as previously but more regularly, with an email every other Wednesday, beginning with this one.

Emails might include the following content (feedback welcome):

• written update of progress on site
• outstanding tasks
• summary of responses to queries (other than those that are urgent or only apply to individuals, which we’ll respond to in person)
• invitations to meetings or viewings (as required)
• A link to the Greenside webpage.

Webpage / engagement platform

In addition to the email update, we’ve created a webpage where you and your future neighbours at Greenside can keep up to date with progress, see the latest photos and look back over previous updates and minutes of meetings.

The site is still being developed but it’s ready to visit and already contains more information than we can include in an email. You can register for it here. The requirements to sign up are minimal but if you have any difficulty, please email me at alison.white@southernhousing.org.uk

The advantage of the webpage is that it collates information in one place for you to look at in your own time. It’s also interactive and contains tools that encourage discussion (if you wish). We’ll add more information as it becomes available and in response to your requests.

The webpage currently contains the following features (some are more developed than others):

• General information about the development (to be added)
• Your questions – for you to add questions and read what others have asked
• Updates - contains fortnightly updates.
• Quick poll – included as an example of how this feature can be used
• Who’s listening – details of key contacts
• Progress – a timeline of key milestone (to be developed)
• FAQs – This can be added to but currently contains four questions received following the meeting, and our responses.
• Document library – for minutes of meetings, brochures, previous Q&As etc
• Photos – more can be added.

There are other tools that could be added if there’s an appetite to use them.

Access requirements

• You’ll need access to a SMART phone, tablet or computer
• Option for the user to translate the content into many different languages (Select language, top left of screen).

Next update

The next update will be on Wednesday 21 August.

You can contact me by email at alison.white@southernhousing.org.uk or by using the webpage Ideas feature (scroll down to tabs at bottom of page and choose ‘Ideas’). Please note that I’ll be on leave from Monday 12 – Wednesday 14 August. I’ll respond to any queries on my return.

Good afternoon,

I hope you are all keeping well. I email with the latest development update regarding Greenside.

First, we are pleased to confirm we will be holding another update at 5.30pm, 30 July, via Teams.

The Southern Housing Sales and Development Directors will be in the meeting along with the other representatives from the team. A representative from Censeo (one of our panel of mortgage advisors) will also be there to any general questions regarding mortgages.

At the meeting we will be providing the latest position as we move towards practical completion. If you have any specific questions, please let me and Sarah know in advance, and we will prepare responses for the meeting.

Please be reminded that others on the call will be able to see your name etc.

I’d like to take this opportunity to give you a quick site progress update:

All Blocks

• Lobby and canopy work is underway. We are predicting this work will be complete within the next four weeks.
• Blocks A & D are nearing completion and getting ready for the Clerk of Work snagging.

Block B

Currently being de-snagged, except for the basement properties.

Block B Basement properties:

• Plots B1 and B2: flooring is being laid and nearing contractor’s snag.
• Plot B5: 2nd fix being completed, flooring being laid, decorating nearly complete.
• Communal areas tape and jointing, 2nd fix carpentry nearly done.
• Fencing going up in the basement gardens.

Block C:

Ground – 4^th floor snagging is nearly complete. Mulalley is completing the snagging items in these properties ready for de-snag.

Block C Basements properties:

• C07- Living area stripped back to ascertaining water ingress source. Specialist employed to help rectify this. Bathrooms near completion, kitchen installed and flooring will be installed once water ingress rectified.
• C06 - Kitchen fitted and wood flooring installed. 2nd fix carpentry and electrical mostly complete.
• C08 - 2nd fix mostly complete with decoration mostly complete. Not affected by water ingress.

General

• Lots of activity on site.
• Lifts were being tested 10 July ready for commissioning.
• The draft operational and mechanical manual has been received ready to review.
• Pre-occupational fire risk assessment is due to be carried out at the beginning of August.
• Energy Performance Certificates are ready and due to be issued.
• A non-material amendment has been agreed by the local authority to allow occupation prior to all 278 works being completed.
• Virgin Media installation (under 278 works) has been instructed and paid for. We await installation date.

Practical Completion and handover

Mulalley is predicting practical completion 27 August.

We anticipate BSR sign off in September.

We anticipate internal handover to the sales team mid-September.

We anticipate occupations from late September. This is not guaranteed and is subject to change.

Kind regards

Jade