HM Government of Gibraltar is pleased to announce that the first phase of Chatham Views Estate, involving 94 apartments, has been handed over by the Contractor this week. Completions by purchasers are now starting to be organised. The next block will be handed over on the 16 June 2026 after which the remaining two blocks will be handed over on the 30 June 2026. This second phase is comprised of 134 apartments inclusive of 44 pensioner rental flats, bringing the total number of apartments completed at Chatham Views Estate to 228 apartments. The Government wishes to thank SITUS for delivering a quality affordable housing development.

In regard to Bob Peliza Mews, the Contractor has advised that the first phase involving three blocks and a total of 253 apartments, is programmed to be completed by the end of 2026. Additional resources are being deployed on site to meet this date. A phased handover of blocks is under consideration, although there are challenges to achieving this due to the configuration of the site which complicates access to each block whilst the remainder are under construction.

In relation to the second phase, its start has suffered delays due to the need for AquaGib to vacate their Waterport facility. In order to be able to begin construction work without waiting for the whole of the facility to be vacated, a phased approach has been adopted. AquaGib released the southern half of their site in late March 2025 and allowed demolitions to proceed to clear the area. Once those were completed, the Contractor was able to start work on the first block which is currently under construction and expected to be completed by late 2027. The start of construction of the second block within Phase 2 has to date not been possible as AquaGib's water production facility on the northern half of the site has had to remain operational awaiting the completion of their new facility on the North Mole. The latter has now been commissioned and AquaGib has this week started to decommission the Waterport facility. Once this is completed, demolitions can begin to clear the site and allow work on this second block to start and be completed within two years. The issuing of purchaser agreements will be organised shortly by the sales unit.

The Government recognises that the delay in delivering this estate is causing frustration to purchasers. The Bob Peliza Mews site has been particularly challenging to vacate due to the presence of not only the old GEA Waterport power station, on which phase 1 is being built but also the AquaGib water production facility on which phase 2 is being built. Both of these are critical national infrastructure facilities and it is therefore crucially important that the replacement facilities are fully functional and working reliably before existing ones are decommissioned. This has caused delays in taking possession of the sites for both phases which in turn has affected the construction start dates.

In addition to this, the presence of a commercial warehouse on part of the phase 2 site has complicated the situation even further. This warehouse needed to be relocated in full and discussions were held with its owners over a number of years in order to identify a suitable site on which to build a new warehouse. Several options were explored and a site along North Mole Road was eventually settled upon and accepted by the owners for the re-provision of the existing warehouse on a like for like basis. Unfortunately, at the eleventh hour, the relocation demands increased to include demands for two additional levels of commercial space, which were neither justified nor acceptable to the Government. A solution was found which allowed the warehouse to remain on site albeit it affected the location for the pensioner rental block which will be built on an alternative site and deliver at least the same number of units.