When it comes to gaining the best value for money from selling its property assets one local councillor in Middlesbrough believes “five-year-olds could do it better” than her town’s leaders.Middlesbrough is one of those under financial pressure, having been forced to raise council tax by the maximum amount of 4.99 per cent this year due to a £4.7m budget shortfall.
Just last October Middlesbrough Council was accused of selling a building “well below market value” after new owners put it back on sale at three times its 2019 price. The council denies such claims. Another recent property deal that has come under the spotlight in Middlesbrough was the council’s purchase of a derelict pub for £750,000 in February last year, despite the premises being valued at just £460,000 – a figure obtained by the council.
“The foreign owners weren’t keen to sell, so I’m pleased that council staff managed to negotiate a way forward for the town – talk of staff paying over the odds is fiction – there was no market value for it. And doing nothing was not an option.” While Lord Houchen claims the transfer of the assets, including the Crown pub, to MDC would allow long overdue improvements to be made to Middlesbrough, the town’s current mayor Ben Cooke said he expected the council to be “properly compensated for any loss of income”, adding that the council had “various concerns” about the asset transfer.
Following the sale, which completed three months after Mr Mallon left office, seven councillors called for a review of the sale, claiming “the process was flawed”, but a review was rejected.: “With reference to your enquiry regarding the sale of the TAD Centre in 2015. I can confirm that I was the political agent for Ray Mallon in 2011.
“I had absolutely zero to do with the TAD centre and all of the evidence in the system proves that,” he said.Asked if he benefited financially from either of the sales either via cash payments or from some form of benefit in kind, Mr Mallon added: “Definitely not. Absolutely not.”A secretly recorded council meeting where the sale of the TAD Centre was discussed also cast doubt on the deal.
“The joint disposal enabled major refurbishment, fully restoring the Hall from a disused and financially unviable building into a thriving restaurant and event space, surrounded by a brand new hospital and high quality housing.” The funding of more than £4m was, she claimed, critical to the development of 160 new affordable homes in the town.
In March 2021, Bolton Council agreed to dispose of the 4.5-acre former bus station for £1.85m to a developer, which had already paid £925,000 to commence work on the first phase of the project for 94 townhouses.