Former council HQ sale decision set to be made

The sale of a council's former headquarters is set to be decided after it was put on the market earlier this year.

Slough Borough Council used St Martin's Place as its HQ for about 12 years but it has been vacant since 2020.

As part of a plan that remains partly confidential, the council said the site could be sold and then leased back and used for about 50 units of temporary accommodation.

The authority's cabinet is set to make its decision at a meeting on Monday.

In documents on its website, the council said St Martin's Place, at the junction of Bath Road and Montem Lane, attracted initial interest from 47 parties.

They have been whittled down to its preferred bidder after three were shortlisted in July regarding the 1.4-acre (0.6 hectare) site.

Officers say the planned sale would provide the "greatest financial benefit" to the council.

It is currently based at Observatory House in Windsor Road, which it bought for £39m in 2018.

The financially-troubled council, that hopes to raise hundreds of millions of pounds in asset sales, said St Martin's Place costs it about £500,000 a year in business rates, security costs and other charges.