Agenda item

To update Committee on the Community Asset Transfer of Kingshill House, Dursley and seek approval to enter negotiations to consider potential terms for a new lease.

The Property Manager introduced the report and gave a brief background of Kingshill House. She advised that Kingshill House was currently run by the Kingshill House Ltd Charity and that the 25-year full repairing and insuring lease that had been granted in 1999 was due to expire in October 2024. She confirmed that Kingshill House was a surplus asset which the Council had no operational use for. It was advised that the Council currently provided Kingshill House Ltd with a general revenue grant on a sliding scale and that Strategy and Resources Committee had agreed a freeze in the grant reduction and an additional £20k grant.  The Council had also released £17k over and above the grant funding to assist with urgent repairs to the drains in the 2022/23 financial year. The Property Manager recommended that negotiations should be entered into for a new short-term lease subject to a further report to Strategy and Resources Committee.

The Corporate Director (Monitoring Officer) highlighted the legal implications contained within the report and confirmed that the current lease benefitted from the rights to re-new the tenancy under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 and therefore there were limited grounds to oppose such renewal. Furthermore, she highlighted that there could be situations in which compensation would need to be paid.

Councillor Ross asked whether Kingshill House had received grants from Dursley Town Council or any other organisations. Councillor Cornell confirmed that Dursley Town Council had provided a small grant in the past. The Property Manager confirmed that she would seek further confirmation and respond to Councillor Ross outside of the meeting.

Councillor Turner asked if there was any further support that could be offered to the trust to help them bring forward the fully costed business plan. The Strategic Director of Resources advised that there had been a large change over of personnel both on the Board and with the management team. However, both the new manager and Chair were highly experienced and had been very grateful for the Councils support so far.

In response to Councillor Stephen Davies the Property Manager confirmed that a condition survey had been carried out in 2019 by the Trust and prior to that by the Council, the condition survey suggested that the necessary works would cost approximately £400k - £500k over a 10-year period. 

In response to a question regarding timings from Councillor Craig, the Corporate Director (Monitoring Officer) advised that they hoped to have made progress with the new lease by Christmas as they would need to give 6 months’ notice for the end of the lease period.

The Chair, Councillor Braun, asked for further clarification on the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 which had been referred to in the legal implications. The Corporate Director (Monitoring Officer) advised that they would need to have particular grounds in order to end the lease, either mandatory grounds or discretionary grounds. If the Council wished to reoccupy the property this could be a mandatory ground and if the occupiers had not been keeping up with rent payments this could be considered a discretionary ground.

Councillor Pearson asked if there was any reason that a short-term lease couldn’t be granted as the amount that was currently paid was low. The Property Manager advised that there were other terms and conditions that would need to be agreed not just the rent and that the process could be time consuming.

Councillor Craig asked for further information regarding any community benefit. The Property Manager confirmed that Kingshill House had been successfully run as a community centre for 20 years. Councillor Cornell, Ward Member for Dursley, advised that it was a valued community space which focused on the arts.

Councillor Green asked whether Kingshill House Ltd had contributed towards any repairs. The Property Manager confirmed that they had been successful in the past at applying for grants, but the Council had made significant contributions.

The Property Manager confirmed in response to Councillor Pearson that Kingshill House had been eligible for some grants during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Proposed by Councillor Cornell and seconded by Councillor Tucker.

Councillor Tucker stated that centres such as Kingshill House were a valuable community asset and drew on his own experiences of having learnt Spanish at the venue.

Councillor Stephen Davies advised that if they didn’t negotiate the lease, they would be solely responsible for a property that required half a million pounds to bring it up to standard and if they did enter into a new lease they would probably end up contributing towards the repairs anyway.

Councillor Ross thanked the Property Manager for the report and drew on her own experiences having attended the venue previously.

Councillor Turner suggested that the property had been in worse condition at the start of the lease and that it was gradually being repaired to bring it back into good condition.

The Chair, Councillor Braun, stated that she had met with the trustees and employees at Kingshill House and that the Trust recognised that they were not in a position to take on the asset transfer. She acknowledged that it would be an important year for the Council and the Trust to ensure that there was a joint agreement on the best way forward for Kingshill House.

Councillor Cornell recognised the complexity of the issue but hoped that a new lease would help to provide some security to the Trust and encouraged everyone to look at the events schedule on the Kingshill House website.

On being put to the vote, the Motion was carried unanimously.