The Officer Key Decision meeting scheduled for Tuesday 17 March 2026 was set to consider an early works package for the refurbishment of Lady Helen Seymour House. This refurbishment is intended to create a Rough Sleeping Assessment Centre.

Early Works Package for Lady Helen Seymour House Refurbishment

The primary item scheduled for discussion was the early works package for the refurbishment of Lady Helen Seymour House, located at Florence Road, Plaistow, E13 0DW. This project aims to transform the five-storey Victorian building into a 42-bed Rough Sleeping Assessment Centre, aligning with Newham's Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy.

The report pack indicated that an early works agreement with Buxton Construction Limited was recommended. These works are considered necessary to meet the project's completion date of January 2027 and to secure grant funding from the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). The total capital allocation for the project, including acquisition and refurbishment, is £10.802m, supplemented by £2.7m in revenue funding for operational costs.

The proposed early works include:

• Construction site set up
• Demolition of internal walls
• Lowering the ground floor
• Installation of hoarding for site security
• Erection of scaffolding
• Highway requirements for site setup and access
• Statutory fees for services

The estimated cost for this early works package was £820,765.65, broken down into various components including works costs, preliminaries, statutory fees, highway works, design team fees, design risk, and overheads and profit. These costs are to be met from the existing approved capital allocation.

The report highlighted that the project supports several council policies and priorities, including the Building a Fairer Newham Corporate Plan 2022-2026 (Priority 1: A healthier Newham and ageing well; Priority 5: Homes for our Residents), '50 Steps to a Healthier Newham' (Priority 11: Building a Borough of Health and Promoting Housing), and the Homelessness and Rough Sleepers Strategy (Priority 3: Support people to move off and stay off the streets). The project also aligns with the Climate Action Just Transition Plan's principles of increasing equity, reducing emissions, and future readiness.

The decision maker for this matter was Paul Kitson, Corporate Director of Inclusive Economy and Housing, in consultation with Councillor Rita Chadha, Lead Member for Adult Health and Social Care. The report noted that Appendix A contained exempt information due to legal professional privilege.