Decision details

RESOLVED:

1.    That Cabinet approves the details of the letting of Consort House as outlined in the Part 2 report.

2.    That Cabinet delegates authority to the S151 Officer in consultation with the Director of Land and Property to conclude best value terms and complete all associated legal documentation.

3.    That Cabinet notes the Financial and Value for Money implications recorded in this Part 2 report.

4.    That Cabinet formally declares the asset surplus to operational service requirements, and upon completion of the letting, to hold the asset for Investment purposes pending any future Cabinet or Strategic Investment Board decisions on its future.

Reasons for Decisions:

A letting of the entire building now provides an opportunity for the Council to not only mitigate its void holding costs, but to secure a long-term rental income stream enabling the asset to be held as an investment property, pending any future decisions of the Council.

The proposed tenant is a significant provider of services supporting Surrey communities.

Consort House has remained largely vacant since late 2022, other than the current temporary occupation by library services for storage and a short term click and collect service. The Council has incurred void holding costs on the building and has a rental liability for some related car parking. Marketing of the building, on either a freehold or leasehold basis, has been pursued against the background of a very depressed office market over the past 2 years.

There have been no recent commercial proposals received for the freehold interest that would be recommended to Cabinet.

(The decisions in this item can be called- in by the Resources and Performance Select Committee)