BISF Housing Update November 2023

CIA Lynda Thorne, Cabinet Member for Housing & Communities, has written to us as local Councillors to advise on the current position regarding the proposed improvement work to BISF properties in Llandaff North.

The Council has been working for some years to obtain funding to improve these properties which basically involves stripping the external metalwork and installing new external insulation.

A provisional Welsh Government grant award of £4.649m was offered in March 2023 and a procurement exercise was commenced shortly afterwards to commission contractors to complete the works. 

Unfortunately, the contractor tender returns have far exceeded the initial Llandaff costs. grant award and currently stand at almost double the initial estimated costs.

Welsh Government have been contacted regarding the potential shortfall and they have asked that a further “value for money’ exercise be carried out to ascertain if the contractor costs represent the current market condition bearing in mind issues such as the lack of competent contractors and ongoing material price increases.

Therefore the Council has commissioned two external agencies to review conduct a review. One will review the decarbonisation benefits associated with the works and a quantity surveyor will review the scope of works and provide feedback on the contractor rates submitted to complete the works.

Officers expect to receive all this information in the next couple of weeks and a subsequent meeting will be organised with Welsh Government to communicate the findings and discuss the best way forward. We are still keen to support the improvement works but the obvious financial gap needs to be resolved before any proposed works can start.

A further communication will be made once we are able to meet with Welsh Government and have some clarity on the next steps.