SCC Property Assets Up £97 million As Leader Freezes Out-of-County Investments

Published on: 19 Jun, 2019
Updated on: 19 Jun, 2019

By Rebecca Curley

local democracy reporter

A budget hotel in Hertfordshire, a warehouse in South Yorkshire and an office block in Dorking have been added to Surrey County Council’s property portfolio in the past year.

This brings the combined total assets of SCC and its investment company, Halsey Garton Group, to £443million, £97 million up on last year.

The Investment Board Annual Report for 2018/19 which outlines the latest figures will be presented to cabinet members on Tuesday, June 25.

The latest investments include the Travelodge hotel in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, bought in October 2018 for £12.25m, the manufacturing and warehouse plant in Barnsley in December for £43.9m and a single-tenant office building in Milton Keynes that month for £14.4m.

Cllr Tim Oliver

Council leader Tim Oliver froze out-of-county investment last month as the members consider making better use of assets the council owns in Surrey, including the multi-tenant Ranger House in Guildford.

The report includes purchases made up to March 31, 2019. Including property development fees such as stamp duty, the total is £454.2 million. Thirty per cent of assets are in the South-east, 22% in West Midlands and 13% in Surrey. The rest are in Yorkshire and Humber, East Midlands, North-west and east of England.

Most buildings are 35% industrial, 25% office and 33% retail. A net income of £4.7m was delivered in 2018/19, bringing the total net income to date to more than £10m. The board expects an average net income of £7.5m a year from 2019/20.

The report states: “The council has created a good reputation in the market by demonstrating our ability to complete acquisitions to agreed timescales and this means the council and its property company are increasingly being invited to consider various potential acquisitions, including some that are off-market.”

The board is also considering how to reduce its operational estate (not including schools) from 300 buildings to 100 and what to do with those deemed surplus to requirements. It is hoped this will have a cost saving of £10 million by 2024.

Assets held by SCC up to March 31 2019:

Golf Course and Club House, Abbey Moor, Chertsey

Multi-tenanted town centre office, Ranger House, Guildford

High Street shop, Kingfisher House, Egham

Office redevelopment, Waterman’s House, Woking

Single tenanted office, Bridgehead House, Ashtead

Office development, Nexus Crawley (land purchase)

Single-tenant office, Pixham Lane, Dorking

Town centre development, Farnham Brightwells (land purchase)

High Street shop, Staines

Multi-tenant office next to Pixham Lane, Park Lodge, Dorking

Assets held by HGP up to March 31 2018:

Manufacturing warehouse, Melksham

Retail warehouse units, Redditch

Manufacturing Warehouse, Bristol

Distribution warehouse, Worksop

Single-tenant office, Bristol

Distribution warehouse, Salford

Cinema and retail/restaurant units, Worcester

Hotel and retail units, Stratford

Retail units, Loughborough

Retail units, Milton Keynes

Retail units, Macclesfield

High Street department store, Winchester

Land for warehouse development, Nottingham

Retail units, Worcestershire

Hotel, Travelodge, Hatfield

Manufacturing and warehouse plant, Barnsley, and

Single-tenant office, Milton Keynes.

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