West Sussex buys £11m office block

West Sussex County Council has bought an office block for £11.25m in Crawley to secure ‘new, long-term funding sources for the services it provides to its residents.’

The recently-refurbished CC3 Churchill Court office block in Manor Royal, Crawley comprises 27,309 square feet of flexible, grade-A office space across two floors and has a long-term tenant.

‘This purchase represents an excellent opportunity to generate long-term rental income, which can then be invested in the public services we provide for our residents,’ said cabinet member for finance and resources, Cllr Jeremy Hunt.

‘Central government has reduced its grant to local authorities, so we have had to find other funding sources. We prudently set aside capital monies to invest in commercial properties, such as Churchill Court, which are already let to high-quality tenants on long leases.’

Last month, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) warned councils about borrowing too much money to invest in shopping centres and commercial buildings.

In a joint statement, CIPFA chief executive Rob Whiteman and the chair of the CIPFA Treasury and Capital Management Panel, Richard Paver, said local authorities should ‘avoid exposing public funds to unnecessary or unquantified risk’.

The statement follows a series of high profile purchases by councils around the country, who are seeking to create new sources of revenue as the amount they receive from central government continues to fall.