GMB calls for Barking and Dagenham council to up the target for social homes as Be First (Regeneration) file losses of nearly £4m in first year of trading
These losses underline the urgency of this happening in a borough where a sizeable proportion of the residents would never be able to buy any of the homes Be First plan to build, says GMB London.
GMB, the union for staff at Barking and Dagenham Council, has called on the council to up the target for social homes produced by Be First (Regeneration) Ltd after the company filed a pre-tax loss of £3,931,134 in its first year of trading.
GMB had previously called on both the council and its auditors KPMG, to explain why the accounts made up to 31 March 2018, due on 23 November 2018, were overdue.
Last month, GMB criticised Be First’s plans to produce a minimum of 9,700 new homes by 2023 of which just over 16% will be social or affordable homes.
Warren Kenny, GMB regional secretary said: “These accounts, filed more than 4 and a half months late, show losses of £4m in the first year of trading, underline why councillors in Barking and Dagenham should call in the plan of Be First Regeneration Ltd to reassess what the aim of the company should be.
“Last month GMB said that plans for only 1,600 homes out of the 9,700 to be built by 2023 to be affordable was grossly inadequate. GMB called for the target to be raised to the National Labour Party aim that the majority of all new homes to be built should be genuinely affordable social housing.
“These losses underline the urgency of this happening in a borough where a sizeable proportion of the residents would never be able to buy any of the homes Be First plan to build.”
