Coventry council plan to take over Lower Precinct lease

Coventry City Council plans to take over the long-term lease at Lower Precinct and Coventry Market

Coventry City Council is to discuss taking back ownership of the Lower Precinct shopping centre and market.

A report presenting plans to take over the whole lease will be discussed at a cabinet meeting on 14 March.

Jim O'Boyle, cabinet member for jobs and regeneration, said it would not cost taxpayers any money.

However, the report proposing the take over of the lease stated the implications of the decision "would result in expenditure of over £1m".

Investment company Royal London Asset Management (RLAM) currently owns the lease.

"We've come to an arrangement, subject to agreement from the cabinet, that we actually take back the whole ownership of it, not just the freehold," Mr O'Boyle said.

"Actually it won't cost us a penny, in fact we'll be paid to do so," he said.

The council were "not buying" the lease as RLAM had planned to surrender it, paying the council a sum of money in return, he said.

"Because of the arrangements that were set up in the 1990s when the long lease was agreed with RLAM, they pay a certain amount of money to the local authority over a period of years.

"It's a win-win for the local authority," he added.

The Lower Precinct shopping centre covers 200,000 sq ft of retail space across more than 40 commercial units, with the nearby market having stood on the current site since 1958.

"We know we've already got potential new owners, and shop businesses coming into Lower Precinct in order to start paying rent there as well, so in the end, actually the local authority will be better off going forwards," Mr O'Boyle said. said.

The authority has previously invested in other external businesses in the city, including a £5.8m investment into Coombe Abbey Hotel and a £15m purchase of Tom White Waste, which had also received a £22.7m loan.

It had also handed a £1m loan to the Coventry City of Culture Trust, which went into administration in February.