Bromley Council has agreed to sell its current headquarters which includes an historic building dating back to the 12th century, in a move which opposition councillors have branded a ‘fire sale’. The authority’s executive committee has agreed to accept an unconditional offer for the freehold of the civic centre site on Stockwell Close.
The proposal to put the site and several other council-owned buildings on sale was agreed in 2022 to avoid a £164 million fee to maintain and refurbish the assets. The authority confirmed the purchase of its new headquarters at Churchill Court in August last year, with the sale of the Stockwell Close site being used to fund the acquisition.
The decision to accept the offer for the land was made at a meeting of the council’s executive committee on July 18, after the site was marketed from July 2023 by Montagu Evans. Conservative Councillor Colin Smith, leader of the council, described the decision for the authority to leave the building after 22 years as ‘bittersweet’, but claimed the sale would provide huge financial savings on top of the sale price.
Labour Councillor Alisa Igoe criticised the lack of detail on the transaction in the council’s public documents and the ‘rushed’ proceedings, claiming it appeared as a ‘fire sale’ to residents. The opposition councillor made reference to a proposal from the Labour Group in February to use the civic centre site for social housing in a £123.2 million scheme funded by external borrowing and a GLA grant.
The councillor claimed the scheme would have saved the council £3.3m a year based on the authority’s temporary accommodation cost figures. Labour Councillor Simon Jeal said he felt more time and effort had been spent by the Labour Group assessing the potential for housing on the site than what had been presented by officers in the report.
Cllr Igoe said officers had exaggerated the amount of borrowing required for the opposition group’s scheme. She added that the authority had appeared to display a lack of ‘serious commitment’ to tackling the housing crisis in Bromley.
She said: “Every time in the future that temporary accommodation is mentioned as a drag on finances, we will point out loudly and publicly that it is in large part thanks to this decision.”
The proposal was discussed at an executive, resources and contract policy development and scrutiny committee meeting on July 16 before being assessed by the executive committee. A council officer said the final bids on the site’s freehold were received too soon before the previous scrutiny meeting to be considered then. He added that the report was prepared ‘in a hurry’ and the deadline for the bids had been extended to achieve a more desirable offer.
Concerns were also raised on whether a better deal for the freehold could have been secured if the sale was delayed. During a public section of the meeting, a member of the committee inadvertently disclosed the value of the accepted bid for the site’s freehold, which was not intended to be shared with the press or public.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service has agreed to a request from Bromley Council not to disclose this figure due to the sensitive nature of the commercial deal – and on the basis that the agreed figure will be made available to the public in due course.
Officers claimed the council could lose up to £2.2million a year in running costs if it retained the freehold. They added that affordable housing could still become available on the site once it was sold. They claimed the authority would be able to nominate individuals from its housing waiting list to benefit from such homes and potentially buy back housing that was developed on the site in the future.
A council officer said: “This is a very large, complex site. It is not a site that is suitable for self delivery. It is a site that is suitable for a developer to bring forward and that allows us two things. It allows us not only the capital seed to do other work with but it also allows us the opportunity to still bring forward affordable housing. It doesn’t close the door on the council having that affordable housing either.”
Conservative Councillor Yvonne Bear, portfolio holder for renewal, recreation and housing, added: “From my perspective, we are better taking the bird in the hand than the two in the bush… If we step away from this now, the whole house of cards is at risk.”
The 6.74 acre site consists of six buildings including the authority’s offices as well as the Grade II listed Bromley Palace, which Historic England claimed was built in the 12th century before being demolished and rebuilt in 1774. The palace’s park grounds were reportedly excluded from the deal.
The council said in a statement on July 18 that the details of the sale would be made public once contracts had been exchanged with the chosen purchaser. The authority is due to move into its new headquarters on Churchill Court in the coming months.
