RDA HQ deal raises taxpayer concerns

YORKSHIRE Forward’s headquarters are set to be sold in a deal that values the premises at half the amount the regional development agency paid for them, TheBusinessDesk.com understands.

The potential deal was today criticised by the TaxPayers’ Alliance which questioned the rush to sell the asset.

Health insurance organisation The Medical Protection Society is understood to have offered between £8m and £9m for 2 and 3 Victoria Place in Leeds.

Yorkshire Forward paid £7.2m for 2 Victoria Place in 2006 and £12.5m for 3 Victoria Place two years later. The two buildings total 63,550 sq ft.

Robert Oxley, campaign manager of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “Regional development agencies were famous for throwing away taxpayers’ cash with little to show for it, often their choices of winners and losers harmed local businesses.

“The potential loss from this property deal is yet another example of their poor record in managing the huge amounts taxpayers’ money they hoover up. Yorkshire Forward should be scrapped immediately before they can lose any more of our money on poor investment decisions.”

Yorkshire Forward will officially close on March 31 but most of its staff have already moved out of the buildings.

The original plan for the assets suggested the properties would be held onto for use by other government agencies.

A Yorkshire property professional, who did not wish to be named, said the offer was thought to be the first to have been put on the table.

He questioned whether the move was in the best interests of the taxpayer and argued that a public sector occupier would be better suited for the premises.

He said bodies such as the NHS and Department for Work and Pensions could centralise their operations at the buildings, which were put up for sale in October, a move that would keep their ownership within the public sector.

It is understood that although MPS has considered a number of buildings across Leeds, it has identified Yorkshire Forward’s headquarters as the best choice.

MPS, which also has offices in Edinburgh and London, wants to move its Leeds-based staff to new facilities as it is looking to grow it Leeds operation.

A spokesman for the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, said: “Yorkshire Forward is in negotiation with a potential purchaser of their HQ building. We cannot comment on the negotiation, as this is commercially sensitive.”

Jones Lang LaSalle, which is advising Yorkshire Forward on the sale, declined to comment.