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The council has agreed an extra \u00a31.2m in professional fees \u2014 largely for architect Levitt Bernstein \u2014 blaming a two\u2011year delay, the Building Safety Act 2022 and its new Retrofit First policy for redesign work; opposition councillors say the rise highlights over\u2011reliance on expensive consultants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Westminster City Council has agreed to pay an additional \u00a31.2 million in consultancy fees for the Lisson Grove regeneration programme, bringing projected professional fees to about \u00a38.6 million at this stage of the project \u2014 up from an earlier estimate of \u00a37.4 million. Westminster Extra reported that the council attributes the rise to a two\u2011year delay in approving the scope for the Lilestone Centre, the need to redesign elements of the scheme to comply with the Building Safety Act 2022 and the authority\u2019s own Retrofit First planning policy. The council says those changes, together with wider industry responses to new safety requirements, have driven extra professional costs while keeping the overall programme within the approved budget. <\/p>\n
The largest single uplift will go to the architect Levitt Bernstein, which is to receive an extra \u00a3939,000, taking its fees for driving the project through RIBA stages two to seven to roughly \u00a33.8 million. Cost consultant Ward Williams Associates is to receive an additional \u00a399,500, bringing its total to about \u00a31 million. Planning advisers Savills will be paid an extra \u00a379,000 and structural engineers Cre8 Structures an extra \u00a388,000; the council recorded a modest \u00a338,000 saving on the project manager Arcadis contract after that firm changed consultants under its appointment. Those appointments and the scale of professional spend were foreshadowed in earlier council delegated\u2011decision records, which authorised multi\u2011discipline teams and set out a professional\u2011services envelope for the feasibility and outline business case phases. <\/p>\n
Opposition councillors seized on the rises. Alan Mendoza, the Conservative group\u2019s value\u2011for\u2011money lead, told Westminster Extra that the increases illustrated a wider problem with the council\u2019s reliance on external consultants. \u201cAs we\u2019ve seen with the Lisson Grove Programme, and with the PDHU (Pimlico district heating undertaking) Westminster Council appears incapable of delivering projects without costly consultants,\u201d he said, adding that residents \u201care paying the price\u201d and warning the sums disclosed so far could be \u201cjust the tip of the iceberg.\u201d The additional spend was approved by the then cabinet member for climate action, regeneration and renters, Cllr Matt Noble, in April, when councillors were advised that reprocuring major contracts at this stage would risk delay, higher costs and loss of critical project knowledge. <\/p>\n
Those procedural and regulatory pressures reflect wider change across the construction sector. The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced a new regulator, a gateway regime for higher\u2011risk buildings and a requirement for a digital \u201cgolden thread\u201d of information throughout design, construction and occupation \u2014 rules that have demanded additional design and compliance work on many large residential schemes. Separately, Westminster\u2019s Retrofit First policy, published in March 2024, requires developers to fully explore retention and refurbishment options before demolition, to assess whole\u2011life carbon and to favour the reuse of foundations and cores where feasible; the policy forms part of a wider City Plan partial review and the council\u2019s net\u2011zero ambitions. The council has pointed to both sets of obligations as drivers of redesign and additional consultancy input on Lisson Grove. <\/p>\n
Lisson Grove forms part of the Church Street regeneration area and covers two principal sites at Lilestone Street and Orchardson Street, encompassing blocks such as Gayhurst House and Penn House as well as the Greenside Community Centre. Project materials set out plans for between 250 and 300 new homes across the two sites, alongside commercial space and a health and wellbeing hub, and say the feasibility stage concluded in 2024. Church Street regeneration in total is presented as a much larger programme, aiming to deliver some 1,750 new homes, pedestrianised spaces, a new library and upgraded market and community services. Public\u2011facing material on the redevelopment emphasises resident engagement, design workshops and an expected completion date for the community hub around 2033. <\/p>\n
The council\u2019s own delegated\u2011decision records show a long\u2011running, staged procurement and approval process. A 2022 delegated decision set out the appointment of the design and delivery team and authorised professional services expenditure through early programme phases, while an April 2025 decision recorded approval to move from feasibility to Outline Business Case Part 2 and authorised further design development for a preferred option. Those papers stress that, because of contractual complexity and commercial sensitivity, reprocuring the professional teams at this point would threaten continuity and increase the risk of cost escalation and delays. <\/p>\n
The dispute highlights a familiar trade\u2011off in major public\u2011sector redevelopment: additional upfront spending on specialist design, safety and compliance advice can reduce downstream risk, but it also exposes projects to political scrutiny if budgets rise or schedules slip. The council argues the recent uplifts remain contained within the budget approved in March 2025 and that investing in professional expertise now will protect taxpayers from greater expense later. Opponents counter that rising consultancy bills demonstrate an over\u2011reliance on external advisers and press for tighter cost control and greater transparency as the project progresses. <\/p>\n
Next steps for the programme include completing the Outline Business Case and continuing local engagement work as detailed designs are developed; the authority\u2019s public project pages and committee records indicate community events and newsletters are ongoing. With regulatory obligations continuing to evolve and retrofit considerations built into local planning policy, officials say the technical workload on the scheme is likely to remain substantial as it moves towards detailed planning and delivery phases. <\/p>\n