Request ID: FOI-4504-2324 Date published: 25 March 2024
You asked
Under the freedom of information act, please can you supply me with following information.
What was the total nett expenditure for TfL’s involvement in council homes for the years 2020 to 2024
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-4504-2324
Thank you for your request which we received on 6 March 2024, asking for information about TfL’s involvement in council homes.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act our information access policy.
Unfortunately, from the definition ‘council homes’, we are unable to identify the information you require. For instance, we manage the delivery of affordable/social housing through some of our projects, anything from feasibility through to delivery of units via our joint ventures. However, they do not necessarily fall within the category of council homes.
Furthermore, assuming we identify the sites that you are interested in, it is not possible to provide an answer to your question within the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004. Under section 12 of the FOI Act we are not required to spend more than £450 to determine if the requested information is held, and to then locate, retrieve or extract that information from elsewhere. This is calculated at a rate of £25 per hour, equivalent to 18 hours work.
While it is difficult to estimate exactly how long it would take to answer your question, we believe it would be in excess of 18 hours. This is because our spend on construction does not split the equity amount between the social/affordable sites and the private element, so it would considerably exceed the cost limit to try and split these costs manually, for the last 4 years. In order to bring your request within the costs limit you may wish to narrow its scope, to focus on a particular project or a more specific aspect of spending.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Eva Hextall FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
