Liverpool City Council Repurchases Land for Double its Original Sale Price

A city council has repurchased the site of a failed £200 million development for twice the amount it was initially sold for. Over a decade ago, Liverpool’s city leaders sold three plots of land near the Chinatown district to developers, receiving approximately £4.85 million. This week, the council acquired the same land from the administrators of the insolvent developer for about £10 million. The council stated that the authority had retained the original funds and that the buyback was financed with government cash. However, opposition leaders contended that taxpayers ultimately bore the cost. The New Chinatown project was intended to feature approximately 790 luxury apartments built across several towers on Great George Street. Nevertheless, the initiative faltered and was never constructed, leading to The Great George Street Project Ltd, the company owning the land, entering administration in 2022. Following an extensive legal procedure, Liverpool City Council acquired the 4.5-acre (1.8-hectare) site using money provided by the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government. The council indicated that land values had risen significantly since the plots were sold for the New Chinatown scheme. It added that the site was now an even more attractive proposition due to the existing development in its vicinity and the planned Liverpool Baltic Merseyrail station. The authority was not the sole prospective purchaser. The Merseyside-based development firm, The Ascot Group, was also in contention to acquire the site. Nick Small, Liverpool City Council’s cabinet member for growth and the economy, stated that the land being back in public ownership meant the council “could influence what happened with the land”. He further described it as a “strategically important site” and noted that he would not be surprised by an increase in the land’s value, given the significant regeneration of the nearby Baltic Triangle area over the past decade, which has “apparently been described as ‘one of the coolest places in Europe to live in’.” Carl Cashman, the Liberal Democrat opposition leader, informed the BBC that while the government covered the cost of the land repurchase, “people pay income tax and VAT, which is what was used to pay for it”. He concluded by stating, “Yet again taxpayers are paying for Labour’s incompetence, both in the present and in the past.”