Financial Offer
Principal Offer
Notting Hill is pleased to offer the sum of £4,470,873 for the freehold or long leasehold
interest in the sites identified in the Development Brief and Improvement Proposals
document, inclusive of any VAT payable.
Variant Offer
We have also modelled a variant offer, as detailed above, with more emphasis on
shared ownership. On this basis, Notting Hill is pleased to offer the sum of £6,597,580
for the freehold or long leasehold interest in the sites identified in the Development Brief
and Improvement Proposals document, inclusive of any VAT payable.
In our experience shared ownership offers the same advantages as private sales buyers
in terms of introducing economically active residents with local purchasing power who
can exert positive peer pressure in terms of the quality of services provided. Switching
from private sales to shared ownership not only allows us to increase our land offer; it
also enables purchasers on low incomes to buy a home.
Assumptions and Conditions
Both the Principal and Variant Offers are subject to the conditions and assumptions set
out below.
Good and Marketable Title
Acquisition would be subject to all appropriate legal due diligence clearly demonstrating
the land is offered with good and marketable title.
Valuation
The acquisition of the site would be subject to a Red Book land valuation by an RICS
surveyor.
Planning
Purchase completion would be subject to receipt of satisfactory and implementable
planning consent.
HCA Funding
As required, we have based our Principal and Variant Offer on a Grant assumption of
£35,000 / unit for Affordable Rent. As requested by the Council, an offer has been
submitted for The Briar as part of Notting Hill’s Framework bid to the HCA for its
2011/15 Programme. Maintenance of the offers at the levels indicated above depends
on Grant being secured at this rate. If Grant is not available the offer would be reduced
accordingly:

Principal Offer without Grant – 2,900,073

Variant Offer without Grant – 4,048,330
If Grant is secured at a level less than £35,000 / unit, Notting Hill Housing would work
with the Council on an open-book basis to agree a revised purchase price for the land.
Vacant Possession
It has been assumed that the site will be transferred with vacant possession. Clearly,
there may be issues around occupancy of the residential and commercial units in the
Shops Area. It is also recognised that garage blocks forming part of the development
site may have similar issues.
Notting Hill would be happy to work with the Council to secure vacant possession of
these properties in a practical or supporting role as required.
Realising the Village Square presents a particular challenge. Some of the existing
traders have been on site for many years and have well established businesses that
provide a valuable contribution to the community. Notting Hill will try to retain these
traders. Our proposal is designed with the aim of phasing construction to enable
continuity of trade whilst the new retail units are developed. This aspect of the project
would require good partnership working between Notting Hill and the Council.
Phasing
For the purposes of this tender we have assumed all of the sites would be dealt with
under a single planning application and, if consented, constructed as a single scheme.
In practice, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss more appropriate phasing with
the Council, agreeing shared priorities and the best approach to introducing the various
tenures in a sensible and sustainable way.
Cleared Site
In costing our proposal we have assumed the Council will deal with the demolition of all
remaining buildings. We would be happy to deal with this aspect subject to vacant
possession and agreement on an appropriate adjustment to the off er price to reflect this.
Demolition of the existing shops would require careful coordination between Notting Hill
and the Council. Alternatively, Notting Hill could deal with this aspect of demolition,
subject to this being reflected in the offer price.
Clean Site
Whilst it is not anticipated that any of the sites would present major issues in terms of
contamination, our offer assumes the Council will provide the sites remediated to a
standard fit for residential development. Once again, we would happy to take this area
of risk on subject to soil investigation and agreement of an appropriate reduction in the
offer price to reflect this.
S.106
As requested in the Invitation to Tender, we have made no allowance for potential S.106
costs in calculating our financial offer.
Availabilty of Services
We have assumed all required utilities are readily available within the public highway
adjoining each of the sites and that these are of sufficient capacity to support the level of
development proposed.
Underground Obstructions
Given the extensive development that has already taken place across the Estate, it is
possible that some of the sites may contain underground obstructions, principally in the
form of utilities infrastructure. Where these may exist it is possible these may require
re-routing. Where major obstructions exist it may be the case that development may be
curtailed. If selected as the Council’s preferred developer for the sites we would be
happy to put such searches in hand at an early stage to provide the Council with clarity
on this matter.
Scope for Joint Procurement
The Development Brief and Improvement Proposals document outlines the Council’s
intention to carry our Decent Homes works and environmental improvements across the
Briar Road Estate. Notting Hill can look at the possibility of joint procurement with the
Council. Such a possibility could yield economies along with the prospect of improved
coordination of works across the Estate, again preserving residents’ quality of life
throughout this period. Notting Hill has a compelling spread of contractor partners on its
Framework covering all aspects of construction and maintenance. We would be happy
to share this with the Council and explore how this concept could be taken forward.