Agenda item

To consider the call-in decision to approve the sale of Council garages at Burnett Close in Hythe.

The Panel considered the call-in request from Cllr Alex Wade in relation to the Portfolio Holder decision to approve the sale of garages at Burnett Close in Hythe.

The Assistant Director of Housing introduced the report and explained that the land around the four garages had been sold to Collingwood Investments Limited in 2000 and that, in hindsight, the garages should have been included as part of this sale.  This land had been sold with no access rights to the garages.  The Council over a number of years had received an income from the rental of these garages.  Officers had discussed with the landowner payment to access the garages but could not agree on a mutually convenient arrangement. 

Tenants had been issued with a notice to terminate their contract and offered alternative garages to rent in the vicinity.  Further discussions over access to the garages with the landowner had been unsuccessful, and therefore a decision had been made to sell the garages to Collingwood Investments for just under the market value.  This decision had been taken by the previous Portfolio Holder. 

The Panel were shown a presentation with photos of the garages and the access arrangements, which has been attached to the minutes as an Appendix.

Cllr Alex Wade was invited to address the Panel.  He explained he had been made aware of the issue, as the local ward member in September 2021 by local residents in Knightswood Road and Burnett Close who rented the garages.  The tenants had been contacted by the District Council and advised that their garage rental contract would be terminated due to the access rights issue.  He stated these tenants had used the garages to store valuable items securely, they were visible from where they lived and were a valued facility.  The former tenants had felt frustrated and upset over this access dispute and that there had been a lack of communication with them.  Cllr Wade had been in contact with officers, who had been responsive, however they had been unable to give any reassurance on the future of the garages.  This dispute had continued for a long period of time and there had been no engagement with the previous tenants or local ward members prior to a decision being taken to sell the garages.  Cllr Wade had therefore requested the decision to be considered by the scrutiny panel.  He questioned whether the garages could have been offered to the leaseholders of Burnett Close to purchase as they would have access rights and also whether they could have been sold for the full market value.

Officers responded to the points raised.  It was felt that the only viable sale was to the freeholder with the access rights.  If the garages were sold to the leaseholders of Burnett Close, they would still have to make arrangements with the freeholder of the land, and therefore the least complicated arrangement was to sell directly to Collingwood Investments.  Whilst the sale of the garages was not at the full market value, it was felt that offer of £7,500 was reasonable in the circumstances and offered value for money.

It was hoped that the garages would be made available to rent by the new owner and therefore be put back into use for local residents, however, it was confirmed that it would not be possible to require the owner to rent them out as part of the sale.

The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Homelessness expressed his support to the decision taken by his predecessor.

A concern was raised at the meeting by a member regarding whether a precedent would be set, however, officers stated this was a very unique and historical case.  The view was also expressed that it made economic sense to sell the garages. 

RESOLVED:

That the Portfolio Holder decision taken on 27 April 2023 be supported.