Home Office to save £1m annual costs in £16m deal for property

THE Government has bought the freehold interest of a property in Sheffield’s Riverside quarter for £16m.

The 75,610 sq ft office space at Vulcan House (Iron) was bought by the Home Office from Cording Danmerc, part of the Cording Group, an investor-manager of commercial property in the UK and Europe.

The building has been occupied by the Home Office since its completion around five years ago and has been used for immigration and visa issues purposes since that point.

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A spokesman for the Home Office, which is headed by Home Secretary Theresa May, told the Yorkshire Post: “The Home Office is playing its part in cutting the country’s budget deficit.

“Purchasing this building will reduce long-term running costs and save more than £1m a year.”

He said that the funds to buy the building were found “from an underspend which emerged during the financial year”.

Cording Damerc said that the Home Office occupies under a number of leases, all of which had break clauses.

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Mark Millar head of portfolio management at Cording Group, said: “The sale is a continuation of our strategy to selectively sell assets on behalf of clients where we have completed asset management strategies.

“We are pleased in this instance to have been able to conclude a sale to the occupier.

“The Government have a strong presence in the city and it makes sense for them to be in control of this part of their estate.

“We continue to invest in the office sector and are actively looking at some of the main regional cities again.”

The sale of the Vulcan House (Iron) freehold was managed by Knight Frank, which advised the vendor, and DTZ which acted for the Home Office.