The Chair welcomed Cllr Narinderjit Singh Thandi to the meeting as the new Vice-Chair.

The minutes of the meeting held on Monday 24 March 2025 were signed by the Chair.

There were no declarations of interest.

Members were presented with the following publications:-

·        Savills - UK Commercial Market in Minutes 2025; and

·        Cluttons - Commercial quarterly examiner Q4 2024.

The Estates and Valuation Manager highlighted key aspects from the publications as of April 2025:-

·        economic growth was forecasted at 0.25%, however, it was currently 0.7% therefore doubling the forecast;

·        Bank of England’s reduction in the base rate to 4.25% supported the notion of improving investor sentiment in the UK commercial property sector and first-time buyers’ sentiment in the housing market;

·        with regard to the retail property sector, particularly Gravesham’s property portfolio, it had seen a stable and strong performance with low vacancy rates:-

o   offices - national vacancy rates remained between 8%-12%, however, Gravesham’s office investment remained fully occupied producing a stable income and strong return on investment;

o   industrial – in 2014, industrial investments made up 14% of the market, however, in 2025 it had doubled to 40%. Whilst there had been a strong demand for warehouse space, rental growth had seen pressure from increased occupational costs. National vacancy rates for the industrial sector remained at 5% whilst Gravesham’s portfolio currently sat at approximately 3.7%.

The Estates and Valuation Manager advised that, overall, the performance of the properties across the retail, office and industrial sectors continued to remain strong. The Strategic Property Team continued to undertake pro-active lease management and provide support to those businesses.

The Chair advised that it was important for the Council’s property portfolio to continue to return on investment as the additional income currently helped the Council in delivering services that were above and beyond the statutory services for the residents of Gravesham. Continuing to achieve low vacancy rates was a great achievement; the Chair thanked officers for their work to date.

To move, if required, that pursuant to Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 that the public be excluded from any items included in Part B of the agenda because it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted that if members of the public are present during those items, there would be disclosure to them.

Part B

Items likely to be considered in Private

Resolved that pursuant to Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 that the public be excluded during the following item of business because it was likely in view of the nature of business to be transacted that, if members of the public were present during the item, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

The Estates and Valuation Manager provided the Committee with an update on the Property Information Dashboard and highlighted changes since the previous Committee meeting.

Members held a discussion and had their questions answered by the Estates and Valuation Manager.

The Committee noted the Property Information Dashboard.