Thurrock Council says it has not abandoned its 拢1.4bn Purfleet-on-Thames regeneration plan despite terminating a development agreement for the project.
Thurrock Council says it has not abandoned its 拢1.4bn Purfleet-on-Thames regeneration plan despite terminating a development agreement for the project.
The Essex authority confirmed it has ended a development agreement with Purfleet Centre Regeneration Limited (PCRL), a joint venture between Sanctuary Housing and Urban Catalyst, to deliver the project.
This follows PCRL finding it difficult to secure additional funding for the scheme.
The council鈥檚 redevelopment of Purfleet-on-Thames has the potential to deliver 2,850 new homes.
Work started on phase 1a of the scheme in March 2021. Sanctuary became involved in the Purfleet regeneration project when it took over original developer Swan and has confirmed that it will develop phase 1a of the regeneration scheme, which will deliver 61 homes.
It is understood that another business will need to be found to replace Urban Catalyst to deliver this phase.
Last September, Homes England warned that it was set to withdraw 拢75m for the project due to PCRL鈥檚 funding delays.
The local authority agreed to mutually withdraw from the grant agreement with Homes England, meaning it avoided having to pay back the 拢25m in grant funding already spent on the Purfleet-on-Thames scheme.
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Ben Maney, cabinet member for regeneration and highways at Thurrock Council, said: 鈥淒espite efforts by PCRL to secure funding it was clear that this could not be achieved on terms that were satisfactory to PCRL shareholders or Thurrock Council so we have now, with the agreement of the PCRL Board, terminated the development agreement.
鈥淭he project has not been abandoned, the council remains committed to delivering high quality regeneration in Purfleet-on- Thames with the supporting infrastructure, town centre and station improvements, and this decision now allows us to move forward and consider alternative delivery options. We are working closely with Homes England and potential funding partners and intend to bring options before Cabinet soon.鈥�
In a Thurrock council report dated 28 September, it said that 鈥淧CRL has consistently struggled to obtain funding (debt and additional equity) for the project and this has been its main obstacle to unlocking delivery鈥�.
The report said it was probable that only 34 homes on the site would be completed by the end of last year.
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