Latest news with #LionHomes
BBC News
13 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Millions lost by Norwich City Council housing firm 'shameful'
A council lost millions of pounds on a housing development company whose performance was "not regularly tracked", according to a leaked month Norwich City Council agreed to liquidate Lion Homes, which had been set up to generate revenue for the authority and build more affordable councillor Alex Catt said it was "shameful" that a review found the firm's shareholder panel - which included councillors and was supposed to meet four times a year - had not met since November Labour-run council – which had to write off a £6m loan to the firm – said it had struggled because of "spiralling borrowing costs and a hostile planning system". Carli Harper, cabinet member for finance and major projects, said there would be "a full scrutiny and audit review" of what happened with the as Norwich Regeneration Limited in 2015, the company was supposed to develop private housing projects to raise income for the council, while also providing some affordable some of its developments struggled and in 2020 it emerged £6m was lost when homes in Bowthorpe were sold for less than they cost to build. With the company close to collapse last year, consultants 31Ten were commissioned to review the financial risk posed to the BBC has seen the report from October 2024, which found that objectives for the firm "were not clear" or "clearly linked to key performance indicators nor regularly tracked".It said it was "critical" for the shareholder panel – set-up to oversee the business – to meet regularly, but it had not done so for consultants also found that the four Lion Homes employees also worked in the council's housing delivery team and warned that could "lead to a perception of conflict of interest".They also said the firm had built up loses of £5.72m over a number of years, while the council had invested £3.42m in it and provided a loan of £6.15m, which has since been written off. A separate report from accountants Grant Thornton said liquidating the company and its assets could recoup the council £ Catt, who leads the council's opposition Green group, said concerns raised by his party about how the firm was run "had been completely ignored"."It's frankly just a mess," he said."It's lacked basic governance, any accountability, any sort of purpose and was going forward on the basis of financial calculations that were completely wrong."Harper said selling Lion Homes' assets "will help us to significantly reduce any outstanding debt" and insisted the council was "always transparent about finances".She said other housing companies had faced the same problems of "spiralling borrowing costs and a hostile planning system" and that the council would develop housing projects itself, instead of using a private firm."Bringing Lion Homes in-house… ensures the council continues to deliver the housing Norwich needs in a more transparent, accountable way," she said. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
16-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Norwich City Council agrees Anglia Square deal with Aviva
A deal agreed with insurance company Aviva to fund the building of 1,100 homes in a city is "groundbreaking", a council leader Norwich City Council has formed a partnership with the firm to find investors for the £350m redevelopment of Anglia opposition Green party said it had concerns about the project following the collapse of the council's housebuilding company Lion council leader Mike Stonard insisted the authority could be trusted and its investment plan was "a real gamechanger". "I believe our partnership with Aviva, which has called Norwich home since 1792, will come to be seen as an historical partnership in one of England's most historic cities," he added. The cost of buying and clearing the Anglia Square site has been covered by a £34m government grant and the new partnership has been set up to fund the next stages of council said that government money would be its contribution to the £350m pot, while Aviva said it would be putting money in as well - although the insurance firm declined to say how Bousley, from the company, said it would be seeking housing associations and developers to invest in the project to construct homes which would be built "to the highest quality we can achieve"."There's been uncertainty around Anglia Square for a long time. What we've tried to do is painstaking work with the city council, painstaking work with Homes England, painstaking work within our own team – to understand the best possible way forward for this project," he said the council wanted at least half the homes to be "affordable", with 350 due to be built in the first two phases of said at least 90 of those would be social housing, which would be filled from the local authorities waiting list, but the council was aiming for more."We will be pushing for the highest number we can get," he added. Alex Catt, leader of the council's Green group, accused the Labour group of failing to provide enough details about its deal with said there was a lack of oversight for Lion Homes – which was liquidated after recording losses of £5m – and he had "the same concerns around governance"."If they can't learn from the mistakes around the problems they had with Lion Homes and the money they've lost there, it's going to be so hard to gain confidence in a scheme like this," said Stonard insisted "there will be oversight"."Those investors will do their due diligence, we'll do our due diligence - so we'll have a good prospect of ensuring those schemes can be viable and can continue," he added that demolition work on the site should be completed by the end of March 2026, with construction work due to begin soon after. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
03-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Norwich City Council owned housing firm recorded losses of £5m
A council-owned housing developer which lost millions of pounds will be closed down and liquidated.A report to Norwich City Council's Labour cabinet blamed changes to the housing market and economy for making its social and affordable housing arm, Lion Homes, show the company made £5m in losses in five years, while homes in one development it built were sold for less than what they cost to councillor Alex Catt said the company had been a poorly-run "disaster" which had made "an enormous loss". The company, which is wholly owned by the council, was founded as Norwich Regeneration Limited in 2015 in the hope of delivering more affordable the venture has faced strong criticism, particularly after the Eastern Daily Press reported in 2020 that the company had lost £6m when homes in Bowthorpe were sold at a loss and the council was council also invested £3.5m in the company and loaned it a further £6.1m to keep it no accounts have been filed for Lion since 2023, Companies House records show it made losses of £5m in the previous five years. Catt, who leads the council's Green group, said "the lack of openness displayed by the Labour councillors who have overseen this disaster that has led to this enormous loss for the public has been striking"."There needs to be a full and public investigation into how this was allowed to happen, and a plan from the council for how it will deliver housing for Norwich at value for money after this failure," he said. 'No impact' Carli Harper, Labour's cabinet member for finance and major projects, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that liquidating the company was "a strategic decision that makes sense for the long-term".Rather than using a private company to borrow money to fund developments, she argued the council could get better deals on loans from the government."It means we deliver more homes at better value for money for the taxpayer if we do it ourselves," she said the closure of the company would have "no impact" on a planned development of 200 houses at the former Mile Cross depot – while the council was "exploring options" for continuing another development in Bowthorpe, where a total of 1,000 homes are expected to be added the council hoped to get back some of the £6.1m loaned to Lion by recovering assets owned by the company including "a significant plot of land". The council's cabinet will be asked to consider voluntary liquidation of the company at a meeting next week in light of a recommendation received from its shareholder states the council will explore "alternative routes" to invest in housing development that are "less risky" and provide "better prospects". Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
