Decision details
Commercial Estate Improvement and Investment
Decision Maker: Chief Finance Officer (S151)
Decision status: Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
Purpose:
To increase the budget to refurbish empty
Council owned commercial property which consists of retail, office
and communal space. This will help to address the number of empty
properties within Bath City Centre and support projects to bring
vacant upper floors into use. The refurbishments will contribute to
maintaining a viable and sustainable economy and future rental
income will help to support Council services. Properties will be
refurbished to deliver low energy solutions where appropriate to
meet and exceed the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES)
requirement for all commercial let property to meet a rating of E
or above from April 2023.
Decision:
To fully approve capital amounting to
£6.053m from the provisional capital programme items
Commercial Estate Investment and Regeneration Fund (£5.736m),
Commercial Estate Refurbishment Programme (£87k) and a
capital reserve (£230k).
Alternative options considered:
The Council could do nothing but this would
leave properties empty in town centre locations with ongoing
holding costs. It could also result in empty rooms above premises,
which if occupied would increase town centre footfall. Commercial
properties below an E energy rating would not comply with MEES
regulations so could not be let.
Publication date: 29/07/2022
Date of decision: 29/07/2022