Councils forge ahead with commercial site purchases

摘要

Councils have rejected the idea that local authority investment in shopping centres is 'dumb money' as they continue to show an interest in purchases. Medway Council last week took over the lease of the Pentagon Shopping Centre in Chatham town centre for £34.8m. A council spokeswoman said: 'The acquisition is anticipated to provide Medway Council with the opportunity to generate an annual income of £1m, which will be used to support council finances and services for local residents.' Charlie Barke, a partner at Knight Frank, which has advised councils on a number of similar deals, said there was a pick-up in interest after a quieter spell in this year's first quarter, with more deals on the horizon. He said: 'We are still seeing a lot of councils interested in buying their local shopping centres. We have got a lot of live conversations going on and some very active positions. 'The good thing about town centre shopping centres is they nearly always have some alternative use potential.' Caroline Hicks, head of property and regeneration at Canterbury City Council, which took full ownership of a shopping centre last year, hit back at claims local authority cash was 'dumb money'. She said: 'We knew retail was going into some troubled waters, but we wanted to take a proactive step to ensure we can safeguard the centre. We want a stake in the future of our high street.