Question
Despite the many unoccupied units in Peach Place, the Council decided to press on with destroying Elms Field to create even more empty units. Whilst Covid hasn’t helped, these units pre-date it and many created during the regeneration have been empty for well over two years. Yet, even during the pandemic, several new businesses, not including ones relocating a few hundred metres to take advantage of a rent free holiday, have opened in the Borough. Would you please state how much, if any, income has been generated by the shop units at Elms Field as a result of the regeneration, and how this compares with the original budget?
Minutes:
Question
Despite the many unoccupied units in Peach Place, the Council decided to press on with destroying Elms Field to create even more empty units. Whilst Covid hasn’t helped, these units pre-date it and many created during the regeneration have been empty for well over two years. Yet, even during the pandemic, several new businesses, not including ones relocating a few hundred metres to take advantage of a rent free holiday, have opened in the Borough. Would you please state how much, if any, income has been generated by the shop units at Elms Field as a result of the regeneration, and how this compares with the original budget?
Answer
Contrary to your statement in your question, far from being unoccupied, the regeneration is nearly at full capacity. 90 % of the units are let by income.
With this, and the strong residential sales being made, the regeneration is already proving a huge success for the Council and generating good levels of income. The income achieved in the current year is sufficient to cover the project costs. Indeed the income is set to grow each year as more businesses open up and receipts received go in to pay down the debt.
Forecasts currently identify income in excess of finance costs of £900K, £1.1m and £1.5m for the next 3 years – this is money that will be used to fund Council services across the Borough. As a note this also includes the rent free period which forms part of the project costs and is industry best practice to help support new businesses whilst they fit out and start to trade.
I certainly do not recognise your, quite misleading, description of ‘empty for years’, as many of the businesses had already signed up or started their fit out whilst our main building contractors were still on site.
This included Elms Field where the Council only took possession of the development when it was completed last September, by which time several of the businesses were already up and running along Elms Walk. Others have followed on in the few months since.
I’m pleased to confirm that out of the remaining units, four are already under offer, with two of them currently going through the legal process. And I am looking forward to shortly being able to issue news of these exciting new tenants. Of the few that remain at Elms Field, we are keen to ensure we select the right tenants, ones that are a good fit for our town for the longer term. However, we continue to receive interest in these, along with the former Clintons unit, that remains with the business’s administrators. Our letting agents carry on reinforcing to us the interest being received and advise us that, as a town, we are ahead of the game.
Indeed, the fact that so many new businesses have continued to sign up and open units, despite the ongoing threat of Covid, not just in Wokingham’s regeneration but right across the town centre, is a massive testament to Wokingham, and the catalyst of our regeneration project. It’s a clear sign that, where others might struggle, Wokingham remains on the road to a strong and vibrant recovery.
Supplementary Question
I am most amazed by that answer. To say that 90% of the units have been let. As can be seen in the photograph I took a few days ago, they are all empty. But let’s move on. On a similar theme, five houses were built and completed more than two years ago in Rose Street – as part of the Peach Place scheme. Last month, the asking price was reduced yet again. Would you please enlighten us as to the paper loss to date on these properties?
Supplementary Answer
I will have to give you a written answer in terms of the exact number of properties. But, what I can tell you is some of the numbers relating to the properties we have released. We are doing it, of course, right across the Borough and right across Wokingham town. Some of it is in partnership with David Wilson Homes. We have completed a number of houses, but not all at this time. We have completed or reserved 21 houses, despite only 10 being fully built and we have just released another 12 on to the market.
Trying to put across that it is all doom and gloom in Wokingham is clearly not the case. Actually, I think that your photograph was in front of two of the units at Elms Field that are actually let.