South Hams Council spends £5m buying supermarket

It has purchased the M&S site in Dartmouth

The report of Chris Brook, Director of Place and Enterprise, and Lisa Buckle, Director of Strategic Finance, explains the purchase of the commercial investment opportunity, with the executive asked to note it.

The purchase price was £4.7m, plus acquisition costs of approximately £300,000, the report says, and was funded through long term Public Works Loans Board borrowing, with both the principal and the interest being repaid fully over the 50 year life of the asset.

Full details of the investment are not provided in the part of the report available to the press and public, but the summary explains that investment includes the 12,575 sq ft retail store and the eight flats, and that it is expected to generate a net income of £60,000 a year to the council.

The report adds: “An investment opportunity was presented to the council and after initial consideration and assessment by officers, the opportunity was presented to the executive for approval to make an offer for the property, which was given. Following a period of negotiations, terms were agreed for the Council to purchase the property.

“Following confirmation from the Leader of the Council, Chief Executive and S151 Officer, that they were happy to proceed, contracts were exchanged to purchase the property on December 6, 2019, with completion on the December 20.

“The council will now manage the property alongside the existing managed estate and other investment property and will continue to explore other commercial investment opportunities within the South Hams as they arise.”

Agreed in 2018, the council’s has a commercial investment strategy that allows them to make investments within the local authority area, and it was updated in 2019 when the council agreed to relax the geographical boundary on investments outside the district for projects directly linked with climate change mitigation.