Khan’s calculations also fail to account for any alternative use for the Crystal, owned by the Greater London Authority, which could garner higher rental income, or generate profit from a sale.
Meanwhile, costs of renovation works on the Crystal have ballooned from £8m to £13.6m, as a tough timetable amid global supply chain issues has made the project victim to higher construction costs.
Susan Hall, head of the GLA Conservatives, says: “The moving costs have already rocketed by 70pc to £13.6m. And the Mayor still hasn’t confirmed the final bill for the building works.”
“The Crystal is quickly becoming a symbol of Sadiq Khan’s mayoralty: delayed, over budget and deeply uninspiring. But, we will not let his moving fiasco frustrate our efforts to hold the Mayor to account.”
Attempts to rush the project have also pushed builders away, with one construction company telling the Telegraph that it avoided signing up to any potential work as it thought it was far too risky.
“City Hall was asking firms to take far too high a risk of financial exposure, on a contract requiring a very quick turnaround. We had one look at it and decided it wasn’t for us,” they said.
Issues soon followed. Flood damage was discovered in the floors of the new premises in July, which led to City Hall drawing up emergency plans to use the South Bank centre or the Barbican – one of the few spaces in central London with adequate space for a chamber and offices – as a home amid any further delays.
But Khan has been quick to swat away any criticism.
“There’s always snags and issues that come up in any major construction, in any infrastructure project. The good news is that it was spotted early”, he said in an interview in July. “We’re going to make sure we sort out the floor, sort out the problems in relation to the flooding. I can guarantee it will make savings when we move to The Crystal.”
Despite a public championing of the development, figures at GLA have privately acknowledged that the move is somewhat of a marriage of convenience.
Negotiations only began in order to aid rental negotiations with the Kuwaiti owners of City Hall, however by the time a reduced offer had been received, it was too late to reverse the path and stay at the side of the Thames in Southwark.
Caroline Pidgeon, chair of the London Assembly oversight committee, says: “Ultimately this was a decision by the Mayor of London to give up our purpose-built building in central London to move out to the east to a very small building that isn’t fit for purpose. And now we’re seeing more and more costs around this. There’s going to be hardly any savings out of this move.”
