Agenda item

The Chair invited Councillor Mark Elliott, Cabinet Member for Resources and Richard Long, Head of Commercial Estate to introduce the report.

Panel members made the following points and asked the following questions:

Councillor Blackburn stated that he would like more information in order to understand the Commercial Estate. He asked about the recent budget which had identified a number of properties up for sale in order to pay off the WECA Post Office loan. He also asked about the amount of money needed for repairs and the impact of the voids. The Cabinet Member explained that the sale of properties was not in the Commercial or Corporate Estate but part of treasury management. The officer explained that he had been campaigning to get a war chest to address disrepair and resources are being combined to bring some properties back. He explained that disposals are dealt with in a different team and a partner is being commissioned to help form a process for declaring certain assets surplus. The Cabinet Member for Economic and Cultural Sustainable Development explained that currently data on Corporate Assets is held on 7/8 IT systems and work is being done on the specifications for a new system. There is a move to a new corporate landlord model. He explained that payments to WECA will be made over the next 5 years and part of this may be found in the disposal of Corporate Assets.

Councillor Halsall asked if most people in arrears eventually fulfil the debt and is there a cost to chase people. The Cabinet Member for Resources explained that there is a red/green split – some we are expecting to be paid and some is seen as risk. The officer added that we now chase all debt.

Councillor Hodge asked if there is a strategy to address outstanding works. The officer explained that it was done purely on the dateline. He explained that there is a backlog on maintenance and work is being done with the resources available, currently there is a focus on 18 properties.

Councillor Simon asked about the £220k debt (rated green but now 4 quarters old). He also asked if conversions to residential use can be part of a strategy to address housing. The officer stated that the debt is made up of areas where we are in dispute with the tenant over the level of debt. On the second point, he explained that we must comply with the Article 4 directive (which protects employment space) which means properties must have been marketed for employment purposes.

Councillor Saini asked about the key drivers of the Commercial Estate and how we compare regarding IPD (standard property index). He asked about notable trends and strategies to optimise performance going forwards. The officer explained that there had been concern about the trend for online shopping and how this would affect retail. Regarding the IPD, we are on par with similar mixed bag portfolio areas. He further explained that there is a landlords’ forum to ensure local landowners support each other and the BID to collaborate on events.

Councillor Halsall asked if there is a list of properties and if there are any commercial properties outside of the district. The officer explained that the Council has records of titles and land ownerships. We can raise this with corporate landlords group – there is no reason not to make the list public. Regarding properties outside of the district – there are several including 2 office buildings in Aztec West and industrial buildings in Melksham and Chippenham. None of these defaulted during the pandemic.

Councillor Hodge asked if any of the pop-up businesses in void properties go on to have a long term let. The officer explained that there are pop ups in both commercial and corporate properties and some transition into long term lets.

Councillor Moss asked about the boundary between corporate and commercial properties, he stated that it would be useful to see where the line is drawn. Councillors could have access to commercial information as they are corporate trustees. He asked about the Community Asset Transfer process and asked about benchmarking opportunities with places such as York and Chester.  The officer explained that we are a member of a historic cities group, but the nature of each estate is very different. Councillor Roper (Cabinet Member for Economic and Cultural Sustainable Development) explained that the split between the commercial and corporate estate is complex with regard to Community Asset Transfer.