- Middlesbrough Council faces accusations of selling Vancouver House well below market value.
- The 2019 sale of the property was at £822,375; it’s now listed at £2.6 million.
- Independent councilor Joan McTigue criticizes the sale as undervaluing public assets.
A council in Middlesbrough is facing allegations of selling Vancouver House “significantly below its market value” as the new owners are now listing it for more than three times its 2019 selling price of £822,000.
Independent councilor Joan McTigue has criticized the sale, calling it an example of the council disposing of assets at a fraction of their worth.
Middlesbrough Council, however, asserts that the sale process was conducted openly and competitively.
In 2017, council members deliberated on the fate of Vancouver House, weighing options such as repurposing it, preserving it for future use, or selling it.
The document said “no council operational requirement” for the building had been identified and a sale would “generate capital receipts and bring the building and land into a far more beneficial use in the future”.
It also ordered the press and public should be excluded from the meeting at which the decision to sell was made, as there would be “disclosure of exempt information”.
Mrs. McTigue said the council “must be seen to be open and transparent, otherwise how can we hope to have the public trust”.
“It’s public assets we’re dealing with – surely that should guarantee the public can at least attend and be a witness to the events,” she said.
In June 2019, the building was ultimately sold for £822,375. It is currently listed for sale at £2.6 million, with a recent reduction from its initial price of £2.9 million this week.
A spokesperson for the council stated, “The sale of Vancouver House on the open market in 2019 was conducted through a transparent and competitive process in accordance with the council’s accommodation strategy and fully compliant with the council’s asset disposal guidelines.”
“No further completed sale of the property has taken place.”
Previously, council members have raised concerns about the authority selling assets at prices lower than their perceived market value.
Mrs. McTigue said: “The sale of Vancouver House at a giveaway price should not surprise anyone, especially when they remember what took place under Labor councilors who were happy to sell off Acklam Hall, with 20 acres of prime land – now with executive housing built on it – for only £600,000, and the Tad Centre for less than half its value.”
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