Concerns are mounting that Luton’s £136million town centre regeneration scheme The Stage could miss out on £20million of government funding if a protracted safety approval process drags on into next year.
The Stage is a key element of Luton’s £1.7billion town centre masterplan and is backed by £20million from the Levelling Up Fund, though the funding is required to be spent by March 2026.
Delays were reported in June as costing the council £100,000 per month, after the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) had requested a third extension of time to assess the plans for three residential towers within the project.
Plans also include a multi-purpose community performance hub, shops, restaurants and public realm improvements on the former Bute Street car park site.
According to the latest report to the council’s scrutiny finance review group, £48.83million is allocated to The Stage for 2025/26, with £28.83 million already classed as “slipped” because of the regulatory hold-up.
The project design and delivery manager, Luis Cadete, told the scrutiny group that discussions with the BSR had improved but the process remained slow.
“On a positive note, I think they’ve addressed the concerns in terms of the dialogue that we’ve been having with them and they’ve put forward some requests for information that we’ve been dealing with since July,” he said. “So the dialogue is improved, but obviously we all know the issues that come with the process that we’re facing with BSR.”
Mr Cadete confirmed the regulator has asked for an extension until 7 November, to determine whether the three planned residential towers meet new fire-safety standards.
“The expectation is that we will have a decision by that [November] date,” he said, but admitted the council has no firm timetable for the final sign-off.
Cllr Aslam Khan pressed the officer on the risk to the grant, saying: “How does this impact the Levelling Up funding because there’s a deadline for that, as it has to be spent by 2026?”
He added: “I don’t see this project being completed by 2026 if we’re expecting a decision by November, so how does this impact the Level Up funding?”
Mr Cadete replied that the council is in contact with those responsible for the fund, but Cllr Khan was unconvinced.
“Just talking is not good enough but there needs to be a level of assurity [sic],” he said. “You will have another shortfall of £20 million. Where are you going to get that?”
Cllr Adrees Latif highlighted the financial pressure caused by delays, saying: “Costs have gone up significantly. Inflation is nearly at 4 per cent as well. So how much work has it been done on mitigating the delay and how much will it cost because at some stage the project is just not going to be viable?”
Mr Cadete responded that there is “no change in the committed contract cost. So we’re not seeing that being influenced by the delay,” adding: “I can’t say where that line stands, where the viability ceases to exist, but I can assure you that there are people constantly monitoring the costs and reporting them upwards as required.”
Committee chair Cllr David Franks underlined the stakes, summarising: “There’s £20 million of time-limited government funding at stake on this project and this is not the first time that we’ve been asked to agree to a delay in their decision.
“So there’s no guarantee that they’re going to stick to the new date anymore than they have to the previous dates that they’ve agreed. What we can do about it? I’m not sure. Perhaps renew our appeal to the chief executive to take the issue up with LGA seeking support from other local authorities who are affected because there must be others affected. We can’t be the only one.”
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