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Offers of the Hendon Electric Supply Company, Limited, and the Gas Light
and Coke Company to instal respectively electricity for lighting and gas for cooking
purposes, etc., in houses on the estate have been accepted.
Castelnau estate, Barnes (51¼ acres), has been acquired under compulsory
powers obtained in 1925.
Castlenau
estate.
On 27th July, 1926, the Council approved a capital estimate of £456,372 for the
development of the estate by the erection of 643 houses. The Council considered
that this was a case in which, instead of following the usual course of inviting tenders,
arrangements should be made with a firm of repute for carrying out the work on a
cost price basis. Negotiations were accordingly entered into with the firm of Henry
Boot and Sons (London), Limited, for the erection of the houses on their pier and
panel system of concrete construction, and as a result an arrangement was agreed
to as follows:—
(1) The contract to be for the development of the whole estate, including
the construction of roads and sewers.
(2) The operations under the contract to be financed by the Council on
an actual-cost basis.
(3) The contractors to guarantee that the actual cost of the work to the
Council will not exceed a measured value to be determined in accordance with a
schedule of prices in the manner provided by the contract, and the guarantee
to be secured by means of a bond in an amount of £30,000.
(4) The contractors' fee to be 2½ per cent. on the amount of the measured
value provided that, in the event of the cost being less than the measured
value by an amount of more than 1 per cent. of the measured value, the fee
shall be increased in accordance with a sliding scale.
(5) The contract to contain a " break " clause to enable the contract to
be determined by the Council before the completion of the work, if necessary.
The order to commence was given on 17th September, 1926.
Old Oak estate, Hammersmith, was partly developed before the War, and on
the remaining land 724 houses were completed before 1926. The Coimcil, on 27th April,
1926, accepted the tender of Mr. A.T. Rowley, amounting to £10,223, for the erection of
14 houses on one remaining site, and the houses were nearing completion at the end
of the year. On 21st December, 1926, the Council fixed the weekly net rents
(exclusive of rates and water charges) for the 14 houses as follows : end houses,
14s. 6d. and 15s.; intermediate houses, 14s.
Old Oak
estate.
The Wormholt estate was partly developed by the Hammersnuth Metropolitan
Borough Council, and the remainder (66 acres) was purchased by the
Council in 1925 for £56,000. During the year 1926 the Council agreed to purchase
from the borough council two additional plots of land for £2,500 for inclusion in
the estate. The site adjoins the Council's Old Oak estate, with which it will be
combined for purposes of administration.
Wormholt
estate.
The Council s intention in acquiring this site is to provide houses for assisting the
metropolitan borough councils in the west of London to meet the special needs of
their boroughs, subject to payment to the Council in respect of the facilities thus
afforded.
During the year the Council decided to enter into agreements under section 14
of the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act, 1924, with certain metropolitan borough
councils whereby the Council undertook to allocate for a period of years, not less than
20 and not exceeding 40, a number of houses on the estate to families to be nominated
by the borough councils, in consideration of a payment to the Council, for the period
during which the right of nominating tenants continued, of such annual sum not
exceeding £7 a house as might be determined by the Council when the houses were
completed. The houses included in these agreements were as follows:—99 houses
to the Council of the Royal Borough of Kensington, 100 houses to the Hammersnuth