Developers still owe Redbridge Council £3.5m in payments

Cllr Gwyneth Deakins (Image: Archant)

Figures obtained exclusively by the Recorder show cash-strapped Redbridge Council is still awaiting £3,441,597 in Section 106 payments from the past decade.

Most of the overdue payments are from the Raphael House development – £1,965,362 cash-in-lieu for affordable housing.

Cllr Gwyneth Deakins, Lib Dem group deputy leader, said: “When you think how stretched we are in this borough, it’s outrageous. The system seems to be in favour of the developers.”

The £3.4m also includes £1,476,235 for non-affordable housing related money, according to a Freedom of Information request.

Cash was also promised for highways, education, healthcare, social services, conservation and CCTV from the Icon Building, which agreed to pay £877,748. Raphael House also promised £598,487 for these.

A spokesman for Kerrington, which owns the Icon Building, said an adjacent car park site forming part of the agreement was sold to Swan Housing.

He added: “Once [Swan’s] development has been completed, we will then enter into further negotiations with the local authority.”

Last month, the council came under fire for agreeing Pioneer Point developers could delay payment of £5m for affordable homes, 10 years after the site was given planning permission.

Leader Cllr Jas Athwal said the council had to work with developers to negotiate fair deals for both sides.

“A lot of these agreements were made before the credit crunch,” he said. “We do have to tread carefully. We’ve got to be fair.”