Wandsworth Council excluded the public and press from a scrutiny meeting on Wednesday to discuss financial details of an £81.8 million Battersea Power Station land deal, despite signing contracts three weeks earlier.
The exclusion means residents cannot know what price the council is paying for the land, what service charges tenants will face, or how the scheme will generate enough income to repay £65 million in borrowing.
The Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee discussed the deal in public for 20 minutes, then voted to hold a private session using legal exemptions. Councillors examined an “exempt appendix” containing the land price and revenue model behind closed doors.
The council approved the deal in December and exchanged contracts before Christmas, seven weeks before scrutiny members saw any papers. What was discussed in the private session is not public information.
The scheme will borrow £65 million to build 203 council homes on Plot RS6a at Battersea Power Station, using a £16.8 million Greater London Authority grant, according to council papers. The council will be a long-term leaseholder, not the freehold owner, and has refused to disclose service charge amounts that residents will pay.
Deal signed before scrutiny saw papers
Cabinet approved the deal on 1 December 2025, using urgent powers to bypass normal scrutiny. The justification was a GLA grant board meeting scheduled for 3 December, giving the council just two days to make an £81.8 million spending decision.
The council announced the deal in a press release on 9 January, describing it as part of a “major housing expansion” and celebrating the “landmark partnership.” The papers containing financial details were not published until 21 January.
Work had been ongoing since summer, according to officer Paul Moore. The council “exchanged contracts just before Christmas,” Moore told the committee.
The papers provide no explanation of when the council learned about the 3 December GLA meeting or why months of summer and autumn work could not have led to earlier scrutiny. Either the council failed to plan ahead on one of its largest ever land purchases, or the urgency was manufactured to avoid proper examination.
Scrutiny members received papers on 21 January, seven weeks after the Cabinet decision and approximately three weeks after contracts were exchanged. A planning application will be published next week.
This means scrutiny happened after the deal became legally binding. The committee has no power to change terms or reject the purchase.
Council will be leaseholder, not owner
Opposition councillor Ravi Govindia asked whether the council would own the land and building, and what service charges the council and residents would pay.
Moore said the developer Battersea Power Station Limited will hold the freehold. The council will be “a long-term leaseholder into the hundreds of years.”
When pressed on service charge amounts, Moore said he didn’t “have a complete recall here and now over the absolute numbers.” He added that charges had been negotiated to ensure “they were within the acceptable usual parameters for schemes such as this under the HRA,” but provided no figures.
Govindia warned that service charges are “one of the big issues when it comes to private blocks in the area.” Moore provided no answer in public session.
Fourth time council has withheld financial details
This is the fourth time in six months that Wandsworth Council has withheld financial information on major spending.
In August 2025, the council paid Taylor Wimpey £24.5 million to exit a regeneration partnership at Winstanley Estate but refused Freedom of Information requests for settlement details. The case is with the Information Commissioner.
In October 2025, the council published a £423.7 million capital programme but claimed it “cannot track spending by ward” despite tracking developer contribution income by ward.
In November 2025, the council’s Growth Plan claimed to accelerate housing delivery but actually cut annual housing targets by 28 per cent, from 1,950 to 1,400 homes per year.
Revenue model hidden despite debt questions
The council claims the scheme will be “self-financing” through rental income. When asked how in public session, Moore referred councillors to “the exempt appendix.”
He declined to explain how 203 social rent homes would generate enough revenue to service the debt.
The £65 million borrowing will increase Housing Revenue Account debt to approximately £502 million. The council already spends £23 million annually servicing existing HRA debt of £437 million, according to budget papers published the same day.
The 203 homes would house approximately 507 people. Wandsworth has 1,618 households in temporary accommodation and a waiting list of approximately 3,700 households.
Questions about design control and planning
Govindia asked what role the council had in choosing architects and contractors: “Is this a kind of design and build and you buy the final product without much say in that?”
Moore said “the architect is currently appointed” and that he was “satisfied, the lawyers are satisfied that we have strong protection throughout this overall programme.” He provided no details of what controls exist.
Cabinet member for Housing Aydin Dikerdem insisted quality would be maintained: “We see the experience of what some of those section 106s are like. We are going to make sure that damn well does not happen on this site because it’s such a flagship development. This is thousand homes money.”
His confidence about preventing problems on the site came despite the council being a leaseholder rather than freehold owner, the architect already being appointed by the developer, and no public explanation of what contractual controls exist to enforce standards.
The development has outline planning permission only. The developer originally committed to 15 per cent affordable housing across Battersea Power Station. The council’s purchase of Plot RS6a reduces the overall affordable housing to 9 per cent. The council paper says this is “necessary for viability” but provides no explanation.
Committee praised scheme before private session
Before proposing the motion, committee chair Sarah Davies said the scheme was “really exciting” and praised the “203 new homes to households and that community benefit.”
Davies then invoked Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, saying “it’s considered that in all circumstances of case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.”
The motion was seconded and agreed unanimously. The webcast was stopped and members of the public left the room. What was discussed in the private session is not public information.
The scheme is expected to complete in 2029, Moore said.
Battersea Power Station Development Company is owned by Malaysian consortium Sime Darby Property, Employees Provident Fund, and S P Setia.
