Anger over 'fire sale' of former register office

Hugh Janes from the Hoe Neighbourhood Forum believes the site is worth more than £300,000

Plans to auction off a former council building in Devon have angered residents.

The old Plymouth Register Office has been empty for four years and is situated in a prime location near Plymouth Hoe.

The auction will take place on 1 November, with a guide price of £295,000.

The Hoe Neighbourhood Forum said the price is too low and the time scale amounts to a "fire sale" that has not given them time to prepare.

The building has been empty since 2020 when the register office moved to new premises at Derriford Business Park

Hugh Janes, from the forum, said: "We could have got together a consortium of residents and businesses, and come up with something that worked on this site.

"The council would have benefitted from getting the maximum return on the money instead of this lottery."

Chairwoman Penny Tarrant said a local consultation had been carried out and the group were hoping any redevelopment would include affordable housing.

"We have a site that is perfectly suited to that and we have a community that is willing and open to that kind of development and yet we are not being given any opportunity to try and bring it forward," she said.

Budget pressures

Plymouth City Council said pitching sale prices low to attract more interest at auction was standard practise.

The council said members had spoken to residents about a proposed development but that hadn’t reached the planning application stage.

Due to budget pressures, it had instead decided to sell the site.

The council added that any new development on the site would still need to comply with existing local planning guidelines.