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blocks for electric light. By the end of the year the first block of dwellings, known
as Whitby House, with accommodation for 348 persons, had been completed.
On 26th May, 1925, the Council approved a capital estimate of £54,000 for the
erection of a further five blocks of dwellings, consisting of 284 rooms with accommodation
for 568 persons, an estate office and workshops, together with eight bicycle
and perambulator sheds; and on 7th July, 1925, the Council accepted the offer
of J. E. Billings and Company, Limited, the contractors for the construction of the
first five blocks of dwellings, of £52,266 1s. 1d. for the work.
The Council on 28th July, 1925, fixed the scale of weekly net rents for accommodation
in the first five blocks of dwellings (each with scullery and bath) as follows:—
Ground floor—Two rooms, 8s. 6d. to 8s. 9d.; three rooms, 10s. 6d. to 11s.; four
rooms, 12s. First and second flows—Two rooms, 9s. to 9s. 3d.; three rooms, 11s.
to 11s. 6d.; four rooms, 12s. 6d. Third and fourth floors combined—Three rooms,
10s. to 11s.; four rooms, 11s. 9d. to 13s.; five rooms, 13s. 6d. to 14s.
The accommodation for 348 persons in Whitby House has been allocated as
part of the rehousing accommodation required to be provided under the Hickman's
Folly scheme.
The following names have been selected for the blocks of dwellings which will
be designated "Houses":—Brixham, Falmouth, Fleetwood, Grimsby, Lowestoft,
Milford, Newlyn, Plymouth, Ramsgate, St. Ives, Swansea, Whitby and Yarmouth.
Watling
estate.
The Watling estate, which is situated astride Edgware-road in the Hendon
urban district, is being acquired partly through the exercise of compulsory powers
and partly by agreement. The main portion of the estate, about 400 acres in extent,
lies to the east of the main road at Burnt Oak on the Edgware extension of the London
Electric Railway. On the west side of Edgware-road it is proposed to purchase
about 80 acres of the land which the Council has power to acquire compulsorily.
On 7th July, 1925, the Council approved a capital estimate of £1,800,000 in
respect of the partial development of the main portion of the estate, including the
•construction of roads and sewers and the erection of about 3,000 houses. It was
felt that the most efficient arrangement for a work of this magnitude would be to
entrust the whole of the operations to one firm with large resources and powers of
organisation at its command. Tenders were invited by public advertisement, and
as it was considered impracticable to obtain offers at a firm price, the tenders were
invited on the basis of the Council financing the undertaking and paying to the
-contractor a variable fee or commission for his services. In response, 32 tenders
were received, but it was not found possible to accept any of them, and negotiations
were opened with C. J. Wills and Sons, Limited, the contractors for the development
of Becontree, with a view to the company also undertaking the development
of the Watling estate, the contracts relating to Becontree and the Watling estate
being combined. As a result of the negotiations an arrangement was agreed to as
follows:—
(i.) The date up to which orders may be given for work at Becontree to
be extended to 31st May, 1929.
(ii.) The scale of commission for Becontree to be stabilised at 2½ per cent.
(iii.) The contractors to be required to observe at Becontree as well as at
the Watling estate the provisions as to the enrolment of apprentices as approved
by the Ministry of Health.
(iv.) The development of the Watling estate to be undertaken at a percentage
of 2½ on the revised total value of the work, but without regard to the
number of houses being more or less than the 3,000 named in the form of
contract.
(v.) The general management of the work at Becontree and the Watling
estate may be put in the hands of one director of C. J. Wills and Sons,
Limited.