West Sussex County Council has launched a hunt for a £1bn partner to develop and dispose of surplus land and property.
The council’s portfolio includes land outside of its own boundaries on the south coast around Adur, Arun, Chichester, Crawley, Horsham, Mid Sussex and Worthing districts.
It said it is looking to take “more of an active role in property development with the aim of improving the financial returns to the council and pace of delivery”.
The council has appointed Carter Jonas to secure a joint venture partner to develop and fund opportunities, as well as acquiring new sites. It aims to develop housing, retail, commercial units, public government buildings including hospitals, police, ambulance, education and leisure facilities.
WSCC aims to do this through a new or existing wholly-owned subsidiary company, on a contract of 30 years. It has proposed a jv structure, where the council would invest its land in the partnership, but it also open to other funding models.
It has invited a maximum of six candidates to tender for the opportunity, with a deadline of 24 July for requests to participate with a tender dispatch expected 14 August.
The move comes as government seeks to clamp down on local authority debt-for-yield property investments, with plans to restrict borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board.
According to Radius Data Exchange, councils have invested £7.5bn in property since 2013, with £3.5bn in offices and £2.4bn in retail and leisure. The top spenders have been Spelthorne Council with £947m, followed by Warrington at £472m and Surrey at £373m.
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