THE former Social Security building in St Helier has been sold by the government below its asking rate and in spite of calls that it would provide a “common sense” site to house multiple arm’s length bodies.
Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan has confirmed a decision to sell Philip Le Feuvre House in La Motte Street, and the adjacent office block Huguenot House for £2,315,000.
The two buildings had initially been marketed for £3 million, but in the report accompanying his decision, Mr Jehan said the three bids received had all been below the guide price.
Although one bid had been for a higher sum, the minister said this would have brought greater risk, prompting a decision to accept the second-highest of the three bids.
Earlier this month, Jersey Consumer Council chair Carl Walker told the JEP that he felt housing some of arm’s-length bodies under the same roof would be a way of saving public money.
“I’d like to know if a simple piece of work has been done to establish the accumulative cost to the taxpayer of these elements, and whether a saving could be made by housing [them] all under one roof in a government building, such as Philip Le Feuvre House – it should be common sense,” he said.
Responding to this suggestion, Mr Jehan said: “I’m not sure it would be cost effective to do it on that site, but it certainly makes sense to have more of our arm’s-length bodies under one roof – wherever that is.”
But the minister also said that the process to sell Philip Le Feuvre House had already been interrupted once when a third property – 38 La Motte Street – had been withdrawn from the sale “package” due to being retained by the Health department, and that he was loath to have any further delay.
Other suggestions for the use of Philip Le Feuvre House, which was home to the Social Security Department until around five years ago, included affordable homes, in line with government planning policy, as well as creating a park, a car park and a hotel. There was also a proposal from a backbench politician to set up a temporary school building while existing town schools were renovated.
The ministerial decision is due to come into force on Thursday 2 April, 15 days after it was signed. A total of £1,315,000 is due to be paid on the date of the sale, with the remaining balance of £1m payable within six months.
