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UK councils have been buying shopping centres: what could go wrong?


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HOLA441

With recent announcements from M&co, William Hill, Pizza Express, etc about the hundreds of shops they are closing.  Plus Disney just announced they are doing direct release to streaming services - i.e. no need for big cinema complexes, paying £8 for popcorn, etc.  Just watch it at home.

Will this be final death knell for the high st ?  There are just too many shops in this country, no one needs them.

I guess they will be converted to housing or other things.

But, the local councils are left holding the bill. 

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https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-intu-prop-divestiture-trafford-centre/british-mall-owner-intu-puts-trafford-centre-for-sale-idUKKCN25801Z

Trafford centre up for sale.  Intu asset sale starts and so does price discovery for all commercial property.  If the price of this sale goes through -20% as stated then all other similar assets will have to be marked down in value by a similar amount.  Hence likes of British Land start to decrease their holdings etc, more people want to withdraw their investment and so becomes a vicious spiral of downward valuations.

And of course the councils that have invested in the like will start to realise they have been sold a dooby.

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According to Barclays, re-purposing a shopping mall drastically reduces it's value.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/15/mall-values-could-b.html

Thats USA - where there are is tons of land and those malls are out of town.

"Most" shopping centre REITs have alternative use valuation's in this country now at 90% of their shopping centre value. New river reit - who has the low cost nonsense councils tend to buy up as last resort being the most obvious example.

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Quite. They grant planning permission themselves and then sell on with planning.

That might work if councils restrict their purchases to properties within their boundaries. What happens when they buy buildings elsewhere?

Thames-Tower-in-Reading-bought-by-Spelthorne-Council.-Andy-Stagg-Alamy.jpg?mtime=20181203162554

"Thames Tower in Reading, one of the properties bought by Spelthorne council as part of a £285 million deal in August 2018"

Reckon Reading Borough Council will OK this for flats - for the benefit of Spelthorne BC? (In fact Reading BC are so useless they might,  but you get the drift. More examples below)

https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2018-12-04/councils-borrow-billions-to-buy-real-estate

"Surrey County Council has spent £70 million on a shopping centre in Worcestershire, while Torbay Council in Devon has purchased a distribution warehouse 230 miles away in Medway, Kent. Broxbourne Council in Hertfordshire, meanwhile, has spent £17 million on a site occupied by Tesco 170 miles away in Grimsby. Surrey council records show that 80% of its investments have been made outside the county. In April, Isle of Wight Council forked out £11 million on an industrial estate in Salford Quays, Manchester, two months after the seller invited offers of £8.7m. The council says that "brochure prices are used as marketing material to attract buyers and don't necessarily reflect market value" and that the estate was bought through a two-stage competitive bidding process."

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That might work if councils restrict their purchases to properties within their boundaries. What happens when they buy buildings elsewhere?

Thames-Tower-in-Reading-bought-by-Spelthorne-Council.-Andy-Stagg-Alamy.jpg?mtime=20181203162554

"Thames Tower in Reading, one of the properties bought by Spelthorne council as part of a £285 million deal in August 2018"

Reckon Reading Borough Council will OK this for flats - for the benefit of Spelthorne BC? (In fact Reading BC are so useless they might,  but you get the drift. More examples below)

https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2018-12-04/councils-borrow-billions-to-buy-real-estate

"Surrey County Council has spent £70 million on a shopping centre in Worcestershire, while Torbay Council in Devon has purchased a distribution warehouse 230 miles away in Medway, Kent. Broxbourne Council in Hertfordshire, meanwhile, has spent £17 million on a site occupied by Tesco 170 miles away in Grimsby. Surrey council records show that 80% of its investments have been made outside the county. In April, Isle of Wight Council forked out £11 million on an industrial estate in Salford Quays, Manchester, two months after the seller invited offers of £8.7m. The council says that "brochure prices are used as marketing material to attract buyers and don't necessarily reflect market value" and that the estate was bought through a two-stage competitive bidding process."

I cant comment on such madness.

To be fair at one point there was a logic to council buying up the local centre.

Nobody at all wanted them, prices were "rock bottom" for the land and the council wanted to keep the business rates and "local shopping". Knowing that the alternative land use was always a possibility. 

From that some councils seemingly have gone on an investment spree elsewhere

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Thats USA - where there are is tons of land and those malls are out of town.

"Most" shopping centre REITs have alternative use valuation's in this country now at 90% of their shopping centre value. New river reit - who has the low cost nonsense councils tend to buy up as last resort being the most obvious example.

What starts in the US tends to follow to UK sooner or later.

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Croydon council on verge of bankruptcy after risky investments

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/oct/29/croydon-council-on-verge-of-bankruptcy-after-risky-investments

 

  • Croydon borrowed £545m during the past three years to invest in housing and commercial property. This included a £200m loan to its own housing development arm Brick By Brick, which has yet to return a dividend. The council has capital borrowings of nearly £2bn.

  • It invested £30m in the local Croydon Park Hotel in 2018-19. This went into administration in June. It also spent £46m on a shopping centre. The council’s strategy of “invest[ing] its way out of financial challenge” was “inherently flawed”, as councillors did not properly understand the retail and leisure markets, auditors said.

  • It allowed a £39m overspend on adult and children’s social care to spin out of control after 2017 when an Ofsted inspection branded its children’s services “inadequate”, and subsequently used accounting tricks to mask its failure to control costs in these departments.

 

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Croydon council on verge of bankruptcy after risky investments

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/oct/29/croydon-council-on-verge-of-bankruptcy-after-risky-investments

 

  • Croydon borrowed £545m during the past three years to invest in housing and commercial property. This included a £200m loan to its own housing development arm Brick By Brick, which has yet to return a dividend. The council has capital borrowings of nearly £2bn.

  • It invested £30m in the local Croydon Park Hotel in 2018-19. This went into administration in June. It also spent £46m on a shopping centre. The council’s strategy of “invest[ing] its way out of financial challenge” was “inherently flawed”, as councillors did not properly understand the retail and leisure markets, auditors said.

  • It allowed a £39m overspend on adult and children’s social care to spin out of control after 2017 when an Ofsted inspection branded its children’s services “inadequate”, and subsequently used accounting tricks to mask its failure to control costs in these departments.

 

So if they go bankrupt, and they borrowed from the govts public borrowing fund, who loses out?

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