‘Beeston Hill PFI faces further delays’: report

Holbeck Towers, in November 2010, prior to demolition to make way for the PFI regeneration project

The Beeston Hill and Holbeck PFI regeneration scheme seems to have encountered further delays, according to a report today.

The ever-reliable Leeds Citizen blog reports today:

The timetable for Leeds’ troubled Private Finance Initiative (PFI) housing project has slipped further with an unexplained three-month delay in getting the £180m contract signed off.

After a costly wait for government decisions during 2011, it had been expected that the contract to refurbish and build homes in three areas of the city was finally going to be signed off by the end of March this year, with work getting under way on site in July.

But July is here and the deal – under which Leeds City Council is going to use PFI credits to build 388 new homes and refurbish over 1,200 in Little London, Beeston Hill and Holbeck – remains unsigned.

South Leeds Life spoke to a council official this morning. The official, who didn’t want to be named, confirmed that the schedulae had slipped again but wasn’t sure the exact reasons why. We will put some calls in to find out more.