£2M Land Deal Scrapped by the Exeter City Council

Recent PBSA market news has brought into picture the Exeter City Council. The council is in the news due to it’s consideration of selling of leisure sites,viz. the Old Clifton Hill Leisure Centre site and Mary Arches site set for a staggering two million pounds. However, the deal was scrapped by an unanimous voting.

The idea of selling off the council’s land is at play since December 2022. The Exeter City Councillors want to make the happen due to the overwhelming £9 million debt incurred from the failure of Exeter City Living (the Council’s housing development company). The arms-length housing company, Exeter City Living, was set up to churn extra revenue for the Council’s treasury by building social and affordable homes. The sell off has made to news as it is against the policy of the council. 

The latest PBSA news of the Exeter City Council executive hands had unanimous voting favouring the selling of the student housing land in the city on both sites. The vote made rounds in the media as it was against the construction of purpose-built student accommodation, which is the need of the hour in the UK student housing market. 

The leader of Exeter’s City Council, Phil Bialyk Council leader (Labour and Cooperative), says, “The work towards building the right homes will continue.” He adds, “The good work will continue despite low financial returns.” Adding further, he said, "The choice the council made ensures the greater vision being delivered.”

The deal would have opened up avenues of paying off the debt amount and look forward to the future. By favouring the land deal, the leaders wanted to wipe off the slate clean though it meant going against their own council’s policies which is a very bold step. 

Diana Moore, Leader of the Green Party in the City Council, says, “The assets of the council were turned into liabilities by the labour-led leadership.”She also says, “The sites which can used for construction of affordable housing for the communities are now on sale.”

The reasons for the failure of the project, as the Exeter City Councillors, were Brexit, COVID-19, the Russia-Ukraine war, staggering inflation and a rise in interest rates, among others. 

According to Liberal Democrat group leader Michael Mitchell, “The £9 million debt on the council needed to be tackled by the proposed sale of the two sites.”He also says, “The restricted use of the sites are making it difficult to know the valuation of both the sites.”

According to Mr Mitchell, “The city council would have still needed some more strategies to repay the debt.”

The council is under a rising debt, and that it is an ever-growing problem, according to Anne Jobson, Conservative Group Leader.  The entire matter is now in the hands of the full council before it comes to a final decision.