Northampton Town: Land deal delay over valuation report oversight

The deal between West Northamptonshire Council and Northampton Town had been based on an £890,000 valuation of land surrounding the club's stadium

A land deal due to secure the completion of a football stand at the heart of a scandal involving a missing £10.25m loan looks set to be delayed.

West Northamptonshire Council and Northampton Town FC had announced an "in principle" agreement over the sale of land to the football club.

The deal had been based on an £890,000 valuation of land next to Sixfields.

The council has now received advice that the valuation is not sufficiently robust.

As first revealed by NN Journal, a cross-party meeting to discuss the plans has been cancelled after council leaders became aware what is known as a "red book valuation" - a formal report on the current market value - had not been carried out.

Conservative council leader Jonathan Nunn said he did not know how long it would take for any fresh valuation to be carried out

That meeting was supposed to take place before the deal went before the council's cabinet on 7 December, where it had been hoped it would be given final sign-off.

Under the agreement, the council was to sell the land to County Developments Northampton Ltd (CDNL), owned by the football club, for £890,000, based on an independent valuation by property consultants Lambert Smith Hampton.

Although the Conservative council still has faith in that valuation, it does not meet the requirements of a "red book valuation", which the authority's leaders have been advised is needed before the deal can be approved.

Northampton Town Football Club borrowed money from Northampton Borough Council to improve its stadium, but the East Stand has never been finished

It is the latest issue in a long series of problems associated with the development of the club's Sixfields Stadium and surrounding land.

Construction of its East Stand had been funded by a £10.25m loan from Northampton Borough Council, which was superseded by the new unitary authority this year.

Work on the stand stalled in 2014 when the money went missing with contractors going unpaid.

• Northampton Town and the missing money

• Seven people charged in missing loan probe

• Council sorry for 'woeful' football club loan

Negotiations between the club and the council have taken place since, with the authority insisting the stand had to be finished before the land could be sold.

The new plan had been heralded as a "good deal all round".

Opposition Labour leader Gareth Eales said that was now "a bit up in the air, to be charitable".

He said: "I feel sorry for the club and its supporters at how long this has dragged on."

Cobblers' chairman Kelvin Thomas has previously said acquiring land around Sixfields Stadium would give Northampton Town a strong asset

Council leader Jonathan Nunn said he did not know how long any "red book valuation" would take or what would happen if it came back with a different figure than the original £890,000.

"That is the risk, but I'm really quite happy that Lambert Smith Hampton has done some great work," he said.

He said he hoped any new valuation would be "in the same ballpark" but that, if not, "we will cross that bridge when it comes".

He said it was possible the deal would not be signed off at the 7 December meeting, adding it was "important to comply with every bit of legal advice" given what had happened previously with the missing loan.

The football club said it could not "comment on council process".

A council spokesman said a meeting had been arranged to update members on the deal "but was not confirmed as we continue due-diligence".