One Horton Heath: Self-run housing project properly audited, council says

A council has said it is carefully monitoring a self-delivered housing project that is costing it more than £300,000 a month in interest payments.

Eastleigh Borough Council in Hampshire has so far spent £148m on buying land and developing the One Horton Heath community.

The first of up to 2,500 new homes are set to be ready in 2025.

Opposition councillor Steven Broomfield said the council's borrowing needed "independent oversight".

The Conservative said: "The cost overrun, the debt that has been incurred and the rate at which any of this money will come back - it's incredibly worrying.

"The problem is Eastleigh are the planning authority, they're the developer, they're the landowner - judge, jury and executioner. They mark their own homework."

The Liberal Democrat-controlled authority took over delivery of the project in 2018, acquiring 310 acres (1.25 sq km) south of Fair Oak.

A council meeting in October was told "the current spend of £148m debt financing costs incurred by the council amount to £326,330 per month".

Leader Keith House said the project was already subject to "scrutiny... checks and balances".

He said: "Our auditors are all over this project, we've worked very closely with government agencies... we've brought private sector expertise on board."

In February, the government ordered an external review of the council's finances because of possible "excessive risk" from debt.

Mr House previously welcomed the review, adding that Eastleigh had generated income by buying commercial properties on credit as other authorities did.

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