Be First (Regeneration) Ltd accounts show nearly £4 million loss in first year of trading
GMB call for Barking and Dagenham Council to up target for social homes of Be First (Regeneration) Ltd after company file losses of nearly £4 million in first year
These losses underline the urgency of this happening in a borough where a sizeable proportion of the residents would never be able to buy any of the homes Be First plan to build, says GMB London
GMB, the union for staff at Barking and Dagenham Council, have called on the council to up the target for social homes produced by Be First (Regeneration) Ltd, after the company filed a pre-tax loss of £3,931,134 in its first year of trading.
GMB had previously called on both the council, and its auditors KPMG, to explain why the accounts made up to 31 March 2018, due on 23 November 2018, were overdue. [See notes to editors for previous GMB press releases.]
Last month, GMB criticised Be First’s plans to produce a minimum of 9,700 new homes by 2023 of which just over 16% will be social or affordable homes.
Warren Kenny, GMB Regional Secretary said:
"These accounts, filed more than 4 and a half months late, show losses of £4 million in the first year of trading, underline why councillors in Barking and Dagenham should call in the plan of Be First Regeneration Ltd to reassess what the aim of the company should be.
"Last month GMB said that plans for only 1,600 homes out of the 9,700 to be built by 2023 to be affordable was grossly inadequate. GMB called for the target to be raised to the National Labour Party aim that the majority of all new homes to be built should be genuinely affordable social housing.
"These losses underline the urgency of this happening in a borough where a sizeable proportion of the residents would never be able to buy any of the homes Be First plan to build."
ENDS
Contact: Vaughan West 07967 342197 or GMB London Press Office 07970 114762
Notes to Editors
Previous GMB Press Releases
1] GMB ask Barking and Dagenham auditors why delay arose (3 April 2019)
https://www.gmblondon.org.uk/news/barking-and-dagenham-auditors-delay
2] 16% social housing in Barking and Dagenham council not good enough (29 March 2019)
https://www.gmblondon.org.uk/news/low-percent-on-social-housing-in-barking-and-dagenham
3] GMB call on Barking and Dagenham Council to explain Be First (Regeneration) Ltd’s failure to file accounts (13 March 2019)
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