Charities are increasingly considering selling their London properties to take advantage of rising property values.
Terrence Higgins Trust is the latest charity to announce its plans to sell a large London property - its Lighthouse West London property in Ladbroke Grove, a building it has owned since 2000.
Citing financial strain on the charity, Terrence Higgins Trust deputy chief executive Paul Ward said the charity concluded that the expense of keeping the property in good standard outweighed its use. Some reports suggest that at its peak, THT looked after 1,700 patients a week at Lighthouse; it now sees about 100 patients a year. The charity is welcoming offers in excess of £1.6m for the property.
“A recent review of our freehold properties in London concluded that Lighthouse West London requires considerable financial investment to bring it up to scratch,” said Ward. “Unfortunately, with pressure on our finances, we cannot afford to give the building the refurbishment it deserves.”
The property was originally owned by the Lighthouse charity, which merged with THT in 2000. There are other charities housed within the building which have a right to bid for the property as it is a community asset. A spokesman for Terrence Higgins said some of the charities have expressed interest in working together to do so. The minimal services THT currently runs through the building will be rehoused elsewhere.
London residential prices boomed by 8.1 per cent over the last year, according to figures released this week, and recent changes to legislation mean that commercial properties can be repurposed as residential homes without complicated planning permission. This legislative change means the market for commercial properties has opened up to a whole new, and property-hungry, sector.
The announcement by THT follows another large charity sale, that by Royal Star and Garter, which in April sold its iconic home on the river Thames in Richmond for £50m. That property will now be converted into residential houses.
Sector property market
Yonni Abramson from charity property firm TSP indicated that more charities are getting in touch with his company to discuss selling their London properties.
TSP typically managed around four property sales a year for charity, but has received instruction on four properties in the last three months alone. Alongside that, Abramson told civilsociety.co.uk the company has been asked to do “a whole host of valuations” for charities.
“There are a lot of charities looking to buy as well. They recognise that London is a strong market and a safe place to put your money,” he said.
“But there’s also charities who’ve owned their properties for a significant amount of time and are asking themselves the question ‘Do we operate best out of this property?’”
Abramson added that the rental market in London was also increasingly competitive, and some charities are having to question whether being based in central London was the best option for them.
Find out more about charity property trends and issues at the Charity Property Conference 2013, this October.
