Kingston Council has approved the acquisition of 55 properties from Cambridge Road Estate LLP, pending approval of GLA Grant funding. The decision was made at a meeting of the Corporate and Resources Committee on Tuesday, 30 September 2025, as part of a broader review of the council's capital budget.

The acquisition, valued at £20.54m, aims to increase the supply of social rented homes in the borough. The approval of the capital budget is contingent on GLA grant funding approval, though the report does not specify a timeline for this approval, nor does it detail what happens if the grant is not approved.

The purchase is part of a series of adjustments to the council's capital budgets, which also include investments in local infrastructure and community services.

Other approved changes to capital budgets include:

  • £0.7m for the Local Implementation Plan
  • £0.54m for Highways and Transportation
  • £0.78m to initiate the Small Sites Phase 2 development programme
  • £1.01m increase for the Disabled Facilities Programme
  • £1.35m increase for the Hook Flood alleviation scheme
  • £2.28m increase for HRA Voids Works
  • £0.66m increase for the Community Parks Programme
  • £1.16m increase for the NEC Housing system implementation

The committee also approved the re-profiling of a number of capital budgets, decreasing capital budgets by £54.55m in 2025-26 and increasing capital expenditure budgets by £45.27m over the three-year period 2026/27-2028/29, noting an overall underspend of £9.28m. The decrease in capital budgets for 2025-26 is a result of this re-profiling, with specific impacts on projects detailed in Annex 1 - Capital Budget Reprofiling 2025-26 as at Month 4 31 July 2025.

The decision was made during a review of the Revenue Capital Budget Monitoring Report as at Month 4 31 July 2025, which provided a forecast of the financial position for 2025/26. The committee, including Councillor Andreas Kirsch (Leader of the Council & Portfolio Holder for Heritage and Culture and Co-Chair - Corporate and Resources Committee), Councillor Anita Schaper (Portfolio Holder for Communities, Commissioning and Customer Contact and Co-Chair - Corporate and Resources Committee) and Councillor Richard Thorpe (Portfolio Holder for Finance, Assets and Governance and Co-Chair - Corporate and Resources Committee), noted the forecast outturn position for the capital programme.

The report indicated a forecast overspend against the budget for the General Fund. The forecast for the General Fund revenue outturn position at Month 4 (31 July 2025) was an overspend of £3.26m against a budget of £192.48m. This overspend was attributed to pressures in adult social care, corporate services, place, residents and communities, and children's services.