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| CITY HALL FACES £50M BLACKHOLE |
Shortfall on Dolphin Square sale
batters council’s finances
CITY Hall is facing a massive cash hole as a landmark block of
flats is set to be sold for tens of millions of pounds less then
expected.
It is understood that as much as £50 million
could have been knocked off the price of the Dolphin Square block
following protracted negotiations between Westminster Council and
Westbook, the American pension fund.
Contracts were exchanged between the council and the company this
week but some details still need to be sorted out.
But the council hopes that the figure would have been in the region
of £220 million have proved to be too high.
Andrew Probert, from the Save Our Square group (SOS) which has campaigned
to stop the sale, said they had warned the council the initial figure
of £200 million was too big.
Now the council is to get just £150 million, £80 million
to go on a housing charity, £15 million on a new Dolphin Square
Company and £55 million into the council’s coffers. A
council source insisted that just a fraction of the reduced figure
related to a reduction in the value of the property and instead
tens of millions of pounds had been put aside in case of possible
legal action.
But Mr Probert admitted the SOS group had few options left.
He said: “Once something is signed it is quite hard to do anything
about it; it looks as if it is the end of everything.”
Contracts were exchanged on Friday but Dolphin Square residents
remain furious that their views have been ignored.
A SOS statement said: “This is the darkest day in the 70-year
long history of Dolphin Square with the tenants sold down the river
to satisfy the greed of Westminster Council.
“This is a deal that should never have been started. In doing
this deal, the council has removed the square from the hands of
a non-profit making benevolent landlord and sold a thousand of its
loyal ratepayers to a foreign concern with no experience of large
residential blocks of flats in this country and an overriding need
to make a profit for its backers.”
City Hall, however, insisted the deal is good for Westminster and
has committed £80 million towards setting up a trust to look
for affordable housing – although not necessarily in Westminster.
Cllr Angela Harvey, Westminster’s housing boss, said: “This
means that we are a step closer to our goal of establishing the
largest charitable donation ever seen in this country for affordable
housing.”
Mark Donnor, from Westbrook, said: “We have just finished a
detailed and comprehensive negotiation with the council and the
trust over a number of issues.
“Some tenants will benefit from initial concessions on car
park rent levels, caps on rental increases and enhanced succession
rights.” |
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