Purpose

Hopkinson House was acquired by Westminster
City Council (WCC) in July 2024 for use as Temporary Accommodation.
The acquisition was made as part of WCC’s Temporary
Accommodation Acquisitions Programme and will be used to meet the
increasing demand for emergency housing in
Westminster. 

The site is located at 88 Vauxhall Bridge
Road, in the Vincent Square ward and Vincent Square Conservation
Area. The site accommodates a vacant 4-storey Victorian building
constructed in the 1900s, which was most recently used as a hostel
for vulnerable adults. 

Following its successful acquisition, WCC is
now seeking to procure a Multi-Disciplinary Consultancy Team (MDCT)
to redevelop the site, which aims to deliver on a number of Fairer
Westminster objectives, as set out in Section 3 of the
report.  
 

Decision

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration
and Renters approves that the Council to enter
into Professional Services contracts with a value greater
than £300,000 to carry out design development of Hopkinson
House for use as Temporary Accommodation.
 
The Cabinet Member for Regeneration and
Renters also:
·      
Notes delegated authority to the Executive Director of
Regeneration, Economy and Planning to approve other Professional
Services and associated costs totalling £970k, broken down in
Appendix A. This results in a total budget approval requirement of
£2.07m.   
·      
Approves expenditure of £1.27m to progress the scheme through
to the conclusion of RIBA Stage 3.   
·      
Notes that the balance of expenditure under these contracts and
other Professional Services and associated costs (totalling
£806k) will come forward for approval as part of the Outline
Business Case.