Did Haringey Council Get Value for Money tor the Sale Of Hornsey Town Hall - My Freedom of Information Request Rejected (And Let's Not Forget The Arts Centre)

Against overwhelming public opinion in 2018 Haringey Council sold the 125 year lease for Hornsey Town Hall to the Cayman Islands registered Far East Consortium (FEC) The agreed figure was £3.5m.

A viability study by FEC suggested the restored town hall would be worth £27 million. Haringey Council accepted this estimate at the time of the sale.

At the beginning of this year the Cayman Islands registered FEC (unbeknown to Haringey Council*) sold the completed building for £47.2 million to the Cayman Islands registered AMTD Group.

In Feb. re. the value of the complex, the Lib Dems commented: "It is estimated that the combined value of the private flats and associated private assets on the former Hornsey Library car park to the rear of the Town Hall which was included as part of the £3.5million sale is now valued at well over £100 million."

As local residents know there had been innumerable delays in the projected opening date for HTH. The first was 2020. The next 2022. Subsequently 2023 and then... 'we don't know.'

"As a consultant to the scheme observed: 'Rare is it that a project has gone through planning so quickly yet taken so long to build.'" Crouch End Forum Website (https://www.crouchendforum.org.uk/hornsey-town-hall-january-2025-update/

I speculated whether Haringey Council had insisted on the inclusion of penalty payments in the contract for late completion of the project. I also wondered if the Borough of Haringey would benefit should the final value of the completed project exceed the estimated £27m. I put these points to Cllr Ruth Gordon whose remit this was. I also enquired whether there were restrictions on the structure / complex - inc. the Arts Centre - being sold to a third party prior to completion.

My two initial emails were ignored and so I put in a Freedom of Information request on 19 March last year. There is a statutory 20 day limit for authorities to respond to such FOIs. The 20 day deadline came... and went with no reply. Two further emails to Cllr. Gordon went unanswered. (I did finally receive a reply but she failed to answer my initial query.)

I went back to Haringey Council's FOI team who said the dept. concerned with this issue would contact me. They didn't.

I got in touch with the Information Commissioners Office (Haringey had supplied their email address - it turned out to be incorrect) who insisted that Haringey Council respond to my FOI request. They gave the Council a deadline of a further two weeks. The 14 day deadline came... and went... with no reply. I finally heard on 20 June (3 months after the initial FOI request was submitted.) "I'm afraid that although your request is being carefully considered, we are not yet in a position to be able to send the response to you... Please be assured we will respond further as soon as we are able."

One more email from me to the Council went unanswered. I concluded I was being stonewalled.

I contacted the ICO once again. They gave Haringey a further 30 day deadline stating: "Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of FOIA and may be dealt with as a contempt of court."

Haringey Council finally responded on day 29 of the 30 day deadline - acknowledging the 65 working day delay.

The decision: - Haringey Council refused to supply the information I requested citing commercial confidentiality - which isa standard 'out-clause' when an organisation does not want to release information. (The Information Commissioners Office is looking into this to see whether the justification for the refusal is valid.)

Donald Trump, it appears, is keener to release the Epstein Files than Haringey Council is the terms of the sale of Hornsey Town Hall.

Haringey Council has applied the maximum possible increase in Council taxes for the past three years. It also applied for and received government approval for a £37 million bailout in early 2025 repayable at 5% interest plus an additional £84 million for 2026/27. Additional income from the owners of HTH would have been extremely welcome to the borough and the community. (If only someone had thought to include that in the original contract.)

Haringey Council could not wait to divest itself of the white elephant - now its pride and joy - that was Hornsey Town Hall. Did it get the best deal for Haringey Council tax payers? You will have to decide. They're not telling.

ADDENDUM

(From the Haringey Community Press.)

*Re. the sale by FEC to the AMTD group Peray Ahmet said at the time talk of a sale was “purely speculative,” indicating that the council were unaware of the sale.

"We have been assured by FEC that any news regarding the potential sale or acquisition of the Hornsey Town Hall development is purely speculative, and that no agreement has been reached with any buyer or partner to speak of." Peray Ahmet.

However, the truth is that Far East Consortium (FEC) agreed to sell the lease of Hornsey Town Hall to AMTD Group for £47 million (specifically reported as £47.2m in some reports) in February 2025. The sale, which involved the Grade II*-listed building, a 68-room hotel, and 146 residential flats, was heavily criticised because FEC originally acquired the site, as stated above, for a mere £3.5m in 2016-2017.

Key Details of the Sale:

Amount: The £47m deal comprised roughly £22.6m for the hotel section and £24.5m for the town hall/arts centre, according to !Property Week

Context: While the 146 flats were completed, significant parts of the promised arts and community centre were still outstanding, leading to frustration, as described by 'The London Spy.'

Buyer: The purchaser is a Cayman Islands-based entity, !AMTD Group.

Haringey Community Press

The sale was initially denied by FEC before being confirmed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The Council later stated that the sale did not change the requirement for the new owner to deliver the arts centre.

So... where is it?