Lib Dem councillor Simon Shaw has expressed his concern at how much the Bootle Strand Shopping Centre has fallen in value since it was controversially purchased by Labour-controlled Sefton Council in April 2017.
Including legal and professional fees, the Council paid out £33.2 million for the Centre in April 2017. However it has now emerged that, only 12 months later, professional valuers engaged by the Council put a value on it of just £30.5 million, a loss of 8% in a year.
Another valuation is due this month as part of the Council’s annual accounts and indications are that the valuation could fall yet again. Three months ago the RICS, the professional body for Chartered Surveyors, took the rare step of instructing valuers to be “aware of the potential for significant changes in value” in retail properties.
To quote the Sunday Times of 20 January: “The valuations of high street shops and shopping centres could be slashed after property agents were ordered to reflect the havoc sweeping the retail industry.”
Councillor Shaw said: “All along we’ve warned that the problem with Labour spending over £33 million on buying this Bootle shopping centre is that it is ‘speculation at public expense’. If the finances go belly up, then it the council taxpayers who have to make good the shortfall – not the councillors who made the decision.”
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