A Merseyside shopping centre lost millions of pounds in value less than a year after a council spent more than £10m buying it. This has been revealed by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
The Pyramids and the Grange shopping centres were bought by Wirral Council in May 2023 for £10.5m as part of regeneration plans for the town centre. The shopping centres include a number of major brands such as Next, Burger King, Cex, Costa Coffee, EE, Greggs, Pandora, as well as several major banks.
The value of the shopping centres since the council bought them has never been disclosed. However in January, it was revealed the total value of a number of properties bought by the council had dropped by more than £9m.
Wirral Council was told to release the estimated value of the centres following a decision by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). This was following a successful appeal by the LDRS after a Freedom of Information request was refused by the local authority.
Leading councillors previously said the purchase was a success but income has seen a decline in recent years. The LDRS previously revealed income dropped by more than £100,000 since the local authority bought it and council reports have suggested commercial income was continuing to go down.
Now the LDRS can reveal in March 2024, the council valued the shopping centres as being worth £7.5m, £3.06m less than what it paid for them just 10 months before.
The new information also shows the Europa Centre, which previously housed a Wilko, was worth £4.1m last year. It was bought for £8.4m.
Birkenhead's Vue Cinema which was bought by the council for £6.8m has also dropped in value. Over £4m in value had been lost since the council bought it with an estimated value of £2.75m in 2024.
Some assets owned by the council had increased in price from the Coronation Gardens cafe in West Kirby, New Hall Farm, and a number of other properties. However the March 2024 estimates show £10.6m in value had been lost in total across council investment properties.
A Wirral Council spokesperson said: "Many of the assets purchased by the council in recent years have been to support specific programmes as part of wider work to bring about improvements to key areas across the borough. The purchases ensure the authority is in a stronger position to deliver the planned improvements.
"In each case the assets are bought with the expectation they will remain in public ownership for a significant period of time and during this it is accepted that their estimated valuation may vary. However, for many assets their value to the communities around them and for who uses them is not always reflected in market valuations.
"When council-owned assets are deemed surplus to requirements and either put up for sale or rented out the very best market price is always sought and for this reason it was considered a commercial risk to release details of their current valuation, thereby putting the council at a disadvantage to potential purchasers/renters, but the ICO disagreed and we of course have agreed to comply with their ruling."
