Agenda and minutes

To approve the public minutes of the meeting held 12 January 2021.

The public minutes of the meeting held 12 January 2021 were approved.

To provide the Investment Board with an opportunity to consider investing in impaired residential property as part of the Commercial and Investment Strategy.

Members considered the Residential Property Investment report presented by Peter Catchpole. 

Members made comments, asked questions and received responses as follows:

·         Councillor Benney said there is a reason why many impaired properties are not in use so how would we secure them if we do want to buy them, particularly where we have struggled to find the owners of various dilapidated properties. Furthermore, apart from the purchase cost, there will be a great cost to bring the bad ones back into use and this then falls under regeneration rather than investment. We cannot make people sell so, short of compulsory purchase, what approach would be taken to acquire such properties as they would already be on the market if their owners did want to sell them.

·       Councillor Boden responded that potentially there are a number of properties within the scope of this policy which need either renovation or significant repairs and renewal. He agreed with Councillor Benney that the only purpose to purchase any of these will be to generate revenue, therefore we need to concentrate upon their revenue generation potential. Some of the properties are on the open market or available at auction. He agreed that there would have to be a view towards the total costs involved and the revenue to be gained from it and that is why the protocol established is key. There is also the prospect of opportunities with leasehold enfranchisement. More properties are available on the market now with 60 years or more left to run because so many with 99-year leases were available in the 1980s, but once a lease starts running down it becomes more difficult to obtain a mortgage. However, the process is not complicated, and we may be in a stronger position to move forward on these and can take a longer-term view than private investors or individuals. A third source of impaired properties is through contact with the owners of properties that have been empty for some time. A levy of significant multiples of council tax on such properties provides a financial incentive to encourage owners to bring them back into use. Therefore, there are properties out there for potential investment.

·       Councillor Benney stated that he was still concerned about renovation costs and reiterated that we are an Investment Board but the business of bringing derelict properties back into good repair is regeneration, which is a Council responsibility. Furthermore, although there may be an option to extend a lease, buying a property on a short lease means you are buying a depreciating asset. Therefore, in the strong position we are in, having cash ready to buy, then buying freehold seems the better option. However, each case needs to be looked at on its own merit and he would like to see some early results to ensure that it is worth the effort.

·         Councillor Boden said that he understood Councillor Benney’s concerns and agreed this is not meant to be a regeneration project, but it is an investment project and  ...  view the full minutes text for item IB14/20

To consider the draft 6 Month Forward Plan.

Members noted the Investment Board Forward Plan provided for information purposes.

This will be a verbal report.

Members considered the confidential verbal Nene Waterfront update report provided by Justin Wingfield and Simon Machen.

The Investment Board AGREED to note the confidential verbal update provided on Nene Waterfront.

This will be a verbal report.

Members considered the Housing Development Opportunity update verbal report provided by Justin Wingfield.

The Investment Board AGREED to note the confidential verbal update on a Housing Development opportunity. 

To provide the Investment Board with an opportunity to invest in an industrial property,

Members considered the confidential Commercial Investment Proposal report presented by Peter Catchpole.

The Investment Board AGREED to approve the proposed investment opportunity presented under Part 2 of the Corporate Investment Strategy together with the associated budgetary, financial and legal arrangements required to bring that into effect.

With the approval of the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, urgency, special urgency and waiver of call-in procedure have been invoked to suspend the requirement to publish the decision on the forward plan for 28 days and to subject the decision to a 5 day call-in period.  Therefore, the decision may be implemented immediately.

To approve the confidential minutes of the meeting of 12 January 2021. 

The confidential minutes of the meeting held 12 January 2021 were approved.