Forget the Bedroom Tax - It's Seven-Bedroom Heaven for Some in Sandwell!

Sandwell Labour are adept at selling off taxpayer-owned property via offers and "sealed offers". They have a duty by law to obtain best value for property and they frequently use the "best offer" system to claim that this result has been achieved eg "we had two offers and sold the land to the highest bidder and so everything is Ok." But is it? Firstly this all presupposes that there is no corruption within Sandwell Council (heaven forfend) rigging the marketing and bidding processes; secondly, it presupposes that the properties have been marketed adequately and correctly (even in the absence of corruption) and, thirdly, there is no independent valuation of any sort to compare with the eventual outcome (although in the case of Bog-gate (a) the property was not marketed at all and (b) a valuation was obtained at taxpayers' expense and then ignored!)

Huge New House at Florence Road

And so we come to the demolished Poplar Grove site in Smethwick, off Florence Road. Back in October, 2011 the Council's Asset Management and Land Disposal (AMLD) committee (Chair - Mahboob Hussain) decided to sell off some of our land. Now it seems they had been getting a bit of flak back then for "unusual" dealings since this is what was said in the meeting agenda:

6.4 Despite plots being sold on this basis [ie the sealed bid method] numerous complaints have, over 

the years, been received from members of the public concerning the 

allocation of certain parcels of land particularly those sold at Manor Road, 

Smethwick, Florence Road, Smethwick, Roway Lane, Oldbury and Albion 

Street, Oldbury. The complaints mainly centre on allegations that the 

plot(s); 

a. has (have) been acquired by developers and not individuals; 

b. that sales have been “fronted” by individuals on behalf of 

developers; and 

c. that the same individual has purchased more than one plot. 

6.5 It has not been possible to either prove or disprove these allegations but 

steps taken to address the issues raised have regrettably resulted in the 

plot purchaser encountering difficulties in obtaining finance and 

subsequently completing purchase and/or development of the plot. 

You will see that the "socialist" Council deflected criticism of themselves (which, of course, is NOT permitted) by saying that if they try and do anything else the poor old prospective purchasers lose out! Happily the AMLD decided they could press on with the "sealed offer", er, "system".

The meeting agenda stated that various plots would be sold separately as individual building projects whereby the individual purchasers would have a house built and then be obliged to live in it for one year before being allowed to sell. But the crafty comrades still wanted to keep everything secret. There were actually three agenda items on this subject at the meeting but two were redacted completely ie not available for taxpayers to see at all. The third document was for public view but was, itself, heavily redacted. Perhaps Sandwell Labour didn't want too many people finding out about these plots - a curious definition of "marketing" indeed!

And so we get this:

1.5 The following sites have been identified as being suitable to be offered for 

disposal as Individual Building Plots and it is therefore recommended that 

they be offered to the market taking account of the methods outlined in 

the report.

XX------------------------------------------XX – 10 plots 

XX---------------------------------------------------XX – 1 plot 

XX-------------------------------------------XX – 5 plots 

XX-----------------------------------XX – 1 plot 

XX------------------------------------------XX – 1 plot 

XX---------------------------------------XX – 1 plot 

XX-------------------------------------------XX – 10 plots 

This is how things are hidden and I would never have been able to pick up on this story but for an anonymous informant.

A curious thing here is that this plot is a very large one (it was previously occupied by a terrace of no less than 8 small houses - Poplar Grove - which were demolished - no doubt at taxpayers' expense - to provide a nice clear vacant plot). It is not clear to me why the cunning comrades thought this large plot was only suitable for a single dwelling and that this would constitute better value for the taxpayer than selling it off for two or three houses. Clearly they could not possibly have had anyone in mind as a suitable occupier and the sealed bid "system" would not assist such favouritism in any event. It seems that the AMLD just thought that there was an urgent and pressing need for more seven-bedroomed mansions in Cape Hill!

And so the AMLD decided to proceed with the sealed bid method AND to conduct all the marketing "in-house". As a result of a Freedom of Information request I put in on your behalf, dear readers,  I am told that there was an unspecified marketing campaign which lasted "four to five weeks". No details have been supplied as to the nature of the marketing and the period was very short indeed. 

One of the rules was that bidders had to pay £75 before bidding. Our old friend at Sandwell Council, David Willetts (who provided the misleading Bog-gate response) says that three bids were received. One was knocked out as the bidder didn't pay the fee and the Council accepted the higher of the two remaining bids (although they have refused to say what these two bids actually were). It appears that there was no independent valuation done of any sort but £128,000 per annum Head of Legal, Neeraj Sharma, was clearly happy that best value had been secured and authorised the sale (at least she was given that job by the AMLD committee and so I assume she did).

Now, of course, the big question is who bought the house? Well Sandwell Labour won't say. They say the Council still retains the freehold which will only be transferred when a separate building contract is completed. You will see from the photo that works are nearing completion. Thereafter they STILL won't tell the taxpayer who owns the land and so I will have to pay a fee and apply to HM Land Registry for the information on your behalf (which should include the price).

I know that you are disappointed, readers, with this outcome but perhaps I can cheer you up with some details of the planning application which was made by Mr Mohammed Shauib. Whilst it does not always follow with planning applications, I am working on the assumption that he is the "owner" who is building the house. By happy coincidence, Mr Shauib is the son of Labour Councillor, Mohammad Rouf.

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