Hampshire County Council puts Voco Fareham-Solent hotel and Nursling lorry park up for sale
The assets make just over £220,000 a year but selling them could lead to £5m
Hampshire County Council is selling its freehold interests in a hotel and lorry park with guide prices indicating the authority could be set for a £5.15m windfall.
Guide prices indicate the council could get £2m for its freehold at Voco Fareham-Solent hotel site in Titchfield and £3.15m for Nursling Lorry Park. The sites bring in £220,000 of annual income for the authority.
But now both have been identified as surplus to requirements as part of an ongoing review of the council’s property estate.
A spokesperson said: “These sites have been identified as surplus to the county council’s requirements as part of the ongoing review of its property estate to ensure the best possible value from assets no longer required to help towards managing the significant financial pressures faced by the county council.”
The Voco Fareham-Solent hotel site was acquired in 1923 from the Ministry of Agriculture as part of a larger agricultural landholding and the lorry park site was acquired in 1973 from a family trust estate.
The hotel site, near Junction 9 of the M27, is occupied under a long-term ground lease by HIN Fareham Ltd.
Sales particulars state the site has generated average rental income of £112,338 a year over the past three years. The lease runs until December 2113.
The 130-bedroom hotel was refurbished this year and rebranded from Holiday Inn to Voco Fareham-Solent.
Meanwhile, Nursling Lorry Park, off Test Lane, is leased to Maritime Transport Ltd and currently produces annual rental income of £110,000, according to marketing documents.
The lease runs until December 2079.
The combined rental income disclosed in the sales particulars totals more than £222,000 a year.
The council declined to provide the book value of either asset, saying the information was commercially sensitive.