Land at Florence Road, Smethwick

The request was partially successful.

Julian Saunders

Dear Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council,

On 27th October, 2011 the Asset Management and Land Disposal Cabinet Committee resolved to market a number of individual building plots for "owner occupation". During "the marketing period" bids could be submitted at a non-refundable £75 per application and then sealed bids could be submitted. It appears that there was to be no independent valuation of the plots but that the decision to sell would be made by the Director of Legal & Governance Services based simply "on a review of the plot sizes to ensure the maximisation of capital receipts" (whatever that may actually mean). In the event of no bids being received the same Director could authorise sale by alternative means.

With regard to the plot listed as "land off Florence Road, Smethwick", please state:

1. The number of applicants who paid SMBC £75 to enter the bidding process;
2. The length of "the marketing period";
3. The number of sealed bids actually received giving, if applicable, the lowest and highest bids;
4. The Land Registry title number of the plot (which I assume, as it is an individual plot, will be the same pre and post sale);
5. Whether the Director of Legal & Governance did, in fact, carry out a review as to best value;
4. If the plot did attract bids, the date of sale and the identity of the purchaser (I am assuming in this scenario that the purchaser was the highest bidder - if not please state reasons why the highest bid was not accepted);
5. If the plot did not attract bids, the alternative method used to market the property, the final sale price, the date of sale and the identity of the purchaser.

Yours faithfully,

Julian Saunders

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

Thank you for contacting Sandwell Council.

Your request has been passed to the relevant service area, who will contact you shortly.

Please quote your reference number INT1-675121663 on all future correspondence.

Regards

Corporate Contact Centre
Customer Services
Transform Sandwell

www.sandwell.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

Thank you for your enquiry.

I can advise you that your Freedon of infroamtion request has been processed and you should get a responce as soon as possible.

Your reference number is 1-675167089.

Regards

Corporate Contact Centre
Customer Services
Transform Sandwell
www.sandwell.gov.uk

[THREAD ID:1-B5Y77P]

show quoted sections

Julian Saunders left an annotation ()

This response is now overdue. For some reason SMBC have given me two different reference numbers ie INT1-675121663 and 1-675167089. I now request a substantive response by close of business on 7th July, 2014.

Julian Saunders

Dear Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Land at Florence Road, Smethwick'

This request is absolutely straightforward and now overdue. Please reply forthwith.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/l...

Yours faithfully,

Julian Saunders

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

Thank you for contacting Sandwell Council.

Your request has been passed to the relevant service area, who will contact you shortly.

Please quote your reference number INT1-678660142 on all future correspondence.

Regards

Corporate Contact Centre
Customer Services
Transform Sandwell

www.sandwell.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

Thank you for your enquiry.

I can advise you that this has been logged with the ref-1-678766314

Regards

Corporate Contact Centre
Customer Services
Transform Sandwell
www.sandwell.gov.uk

[THREAD ID:1-B821IS]

show quoted sections

Julian Saunders left an annotation ()

Bring back BT/Transform Sandwell [sic]. I now have four separate reference numbers for this simple request!

Anouk Wendling, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

3 Attachments

This information has been marked as: IL1: PROTECT

Dear Mr Saunders,

 

Thank you for your e-mail dated 9th July, which stated that you had not
received a response to your Freedom of Information request regarding a
plot of land at Florence Road, in Smethwick.

 

I have liaised with the officer responsible for your enquiry and can
advise you that, unfortunately, an error was made when inputting the
e-mail address to send off your response. As a result, you never received
it. I would like to stress that our officer confirmed he did not received
a "mail delivery failure" message, and therefore had no means of knowing
that his correspondence had not been delivered.

 

I attach the original response to this e-mail and wish to offer you the
council's apology for any inconvenience caused by the delay in responding
to your request. I trust this will satisfy your query.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Anouk Wendling

Information Governance Officer

Legal and Governance

 

[1]sandwell_mbc

Sandwell Council...working for you

 

Sandwell Council

Oldbury

West Midlands

B69 3DE

W: [2]www.sandwell.gov.uk

 

T: 0121 569 3248

E: [3][email address]

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Julian Saunders

Dear Anouk Wendling,

I am at a complete loss to understand why there are 8 (eight) title numbers relating to a single plot. Please clarify the position forthwith noting that this matter is overdue (and now subject to the internal review procedure).

Yours faithfully,

Julian Saunders

Ganesh Sittampalam left an annotation ()

The council did send a reply on 9th July to the wrong email address, as they mention above. As it has now been resent I have deleted the original as it wouldn't add anything to the thread.

There is no particular reason why a misaddressed email would result in a delivery error, as the incorrect address may still be a valid address belonging to someone else.

Ganesh - WhatDoTheyKnow volunteer

David Willetts, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

1 Attachment

This information has been marked as: IL0: UNCLASSIFIED

 

Mr Saunders,

Formal response below.

Apologies you did not receive the earlier email. There was an error in the
address sent which did not come back as a failed mail delivery.

I gather you have raised a further issue regarding the number of title nos
relating to the land in question. The council in recent years been been
working to register all its land and property holdings to comply with
Registration legislation for public bodies. It has been common practice
for the Land Registry to register all existing individual interests in a
site rather than consolidate into one certificate and I suspect that is
what happened in this instance.

 

 

 

 

David Willetts

Property Services Manager

 

[1]sandwell_mbc

 

Sandwell Council…working for you

 

T: 0121 569 3924

F: 0121 569 3938

M:

E: [2]David [email address].uk   

 

Sandwell Council
Oldbury
West Midlands
B69 3DE

W: [3]www.sandwell.gov.uk

 

 

 

From: David Willetts
Sent: 09 July 2014 15:09
To: '[email address]'
Subject: Land off Florence Road Smethwick [IL0: UNCLASSIFIED]

 

This information has been marked as: IL0: UNCLASSIFIED

 

 

Dear Mr Saunders,

 

Thank you for your enquiry concerning the proposed sale of the land off
Florence Road, Smethwick. I would respond as follows: -

 

1. Two applicants paid SMBC £75 (Seventy-Five pounds), one of which was
the successful bidder.

 

2. The marketing period was approximately 4-5 weeks.

 

3. SMBC was in receipt of three sealed offers.  Regarding the value of the
highest and lowest bids, the Council wishes to rely upon Section 43(2) of
the Freedom of Information Act, which states that information is exempt
from disclosure if it would or would be likely to prejudice the commercial
interests of any person (including the public authority holding it).

 

In this case, the Council believes that disclosing the highest and lowest
bids received could prejudice its commercial interests. This is because
the sale of the land is not yet complete and is conditional upon the
completion of a residential property for owner occupation.  The sale will
not be finalised before the completion of the building and could therefore
be overturned if the building was not built in accordance with contract
specifications. In this case, the Council would go out to tender again to
find a new purchaser for the land, and revealing the amount proposed for
the successful bid could prevent it from getting the best value for money
in the future. Similarly, indicating what the lowest bid was might alter
any potential future bids.

 

Section 43(2) being a qualified exemption, its application must then be
balanced out with the public interest.  In this case, the Council is
satisfied that the public interest in withholding the information is
greater than that in disclosing it. This is because disclosure would
undermine competition in a potential re-tendering process and not
guarantee that the Council secures the best deal possible.

 

As a result, the Council believes it is entitled not to disclose the
requested information to you.

 

4. The Registered Title No's relating to this proposed transfer are
WM314512  WM791857  WM383350  WM455641  WM402918  WM155963  WM396477 
WR7824.

 

5.  Based upon the plot being offered on the open market and the highest
offer being accepted best value was achieved.

 

6. Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 allows public
authorities not to disclose information reasonably available to the
requestor by other means. In this case, the information you have requested
can be obtained via the Land Registry
([4]www.landregistry.gov.uk/public/property-ownership) once the sale has
 completed and the purchaser has registered their interest.

 

Although the information is not yet available, the Council believes that
it is entitled to decline to provide you with it, as it is indented for
future publication. Indeed, Section 22(1) of the Freedom of Information
Act allows the Council not to disclose information which:

 

(a) is held with a view to its publication, by the authority or any other
person, at some future date (whether determined or not);

 

(b) was already held with a view to such publication at the time when the
request for information was made, and

 

(c) it is reasonable in all the circumstances that to withhold from
disclosure until the date referred to in paragraph (a).

 

In this case, the Council is satisfied that this exemption is applicable.
This is because:

 

(a)  the information will be published on the Land Registry at a later
date;

 

(b)  the information was always intended to be made public, as all sales
of land are registered by the Land Registry Office;

 

(c)  the Council deems it to be responsible to withhold disclosure until
then, as the sale has not yet been completed.

 

 

Section 22 being a qualified exemption, its application must be balanced
out with the public interest. In this case, the Council believes the
public interest in withholding the information outweighs that in
disclosing it. This is because the sale has  not yet been completed and is
therefore not definitive. It seems in the public interest that information
provided by the Council be reliable.

 

In conclusion, the Council believes it is entitled not to disclose the
requested information at this date.

  

7.  Not applicable.

 

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the
right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be
submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your
request, and should be addressed to:

 

                Information Management Unit

                Oldbury Council House

                Freeth Street

                Oldbury

                West Midlands

                B69 3DE

 

If you are not content with the outcome of an internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to The Information Commissioner can be
contacted at:

 

                Information Commissioner's Office

                Wycliffe House

                Water Lane        

                Wilmslow

                Cheshire, SK9 5AF

 

Please remember to quote your reference number above in any future
communications.

 

Regards

 

 

 

 

 

David Willetts

Property Services Manager

 

[5]sandwell_mbc

 

Sandwell Council…working for you

 

T: 0121 569 3924

F: 0121 569 3938

M:

E: [6]David [email address].uk   

 

Sandwell Council
Oldbury
West Midlands
B69 3DE

W: [7]www.sandwell.gov.uk

 

show quoted sections

Julian Saunders

Dear Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Land at Florence Road, Smethwick'.

I am highly dissatisfied with the response to my original request here and with the reply to my query regarding same.

May I respectfully refer you to minute 6.11 of the Asset Management etc Committee of 27th October, 2011. The whole purpose of the proposed scheme as stated by SMBC itself was to sell "to individuals wishing to build a dwelling for their own occupation". The individual plots were to be sold freehold on a sealed offer basis.

It SPECIFICALLY states in minute 6.11 that this scheme relates to one plot only off Florence Road. I believe that SMBC have tried, for reasons unknown, to bamboozle me here by supplying 8 (eight) separate title numbers in respect of this request.

It is clearly in the public interest that there is full disclosure in respect of this transaction both to ascertain whether the political purpose of the sale was achieved and to ascertain that SMBC acted properly in respect of the sealed bid process. There can be no spurious arguments of commercial confidentiality.

This plot is clearly identifiable to SMBC as it featured in the report to the committee. Was it sold or not? If yes, then whether SMBC had registered the land or not is irrelevant. The purchaser would, by law, have to register it. It would be surprising if SMBC did not hold the registered title number itself if the land was subsequently registered. If it does not, please supply the FULL details sufficient for me to seek registered number from HM Land Registry including conveyancing plan if applicable relevant to THIS PLOT and this plot ONLY.

Alternatively, you seem to suggest that although the offer process was conducted and an offer accepted there was some sort of conditional contract and the building has not been completed (well over two and a half years after the Committee meeting). If the house build has not commenced and SMBC have registered the plot in the meantime please supply the registered title number.

If building has commenced please state the nature of the contract between SMBC and the successful "bidder". It seems strange that a private individual would be able to raise finance to self-build without actually owning the freehold.What is the current status of the tenure?

If no building has commenced two and a half years after this was mooted then this goes totally against the grain of the political decision and if SMBC retain the freehold then why has the original "contract" not been terminated and the process re-run?

There is also a clear discrepancy in your original reply. This scheme was intended for owner occupiers and they were to pay £75 each to be able to make an offer. You say only two persons paid this sum and yet SMBC considered 3 bids? Why?

For the avoidance of doubt I repeat my original request in its entirety.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/l...

Yours faithfully,

Julian Saunders

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

Thank you for contacting Sandwell Council.

Your request has been passed to the relevant service area, who will contact you shortly.

Please quote your reference number INT1-679022807 on all future correspondence.

Regards

Corporate Contact Centre
Customer Services
Transform Sandwell

www.sandwell.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

Thank you for your enquiry.

I can advise you that your enquiry has been logged with ref 1-679186224.

Please quote your reference number in all future correspondence.

Regards,

Corporate Contact Centre
Customer Services

Email: ‘[Sandwell Council request email]’

Web: www.sandwell.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Anouk Wendling, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

2 Attachments

This information has been marked as: IL1: PROTECT

 

Dear Mr Saunders,

 

Thank you for your e-mail dated 14th July and asking for a review of the
Council's response to your original request in date of the 8th June.

 

I have listed and answered your queries below.

 

1.      Why there are 8 property titles for the plot of land at stake. If
one single property title number for the plot cannot be found, the
conveyancing plan relevant to the plot.

 

Please allow me first to reiterate that, due to the nature of the
contract, the plot of land has not been sold yet and there has been no
freehold transfer of the land. The council has merely entered into
a Building Agreement with the highest bidder to allow them onto the land
to commence with the build. 

 

The land referred to constitutes one plot and is made of 8 title numbers
given that the land was previously occupied by a terrace of properties,
namely 13-20 Lime Grove.

 

I also attach the conveyancing plan for your perusal. However, please note
that this document is subject to Crown Copyright and that its use is
therefore restricted.

 

2.      Whether the house build has commenced or not and, if so, the
current status of the tenure.

 

I can confirm that the build has commenced and is at an advances stage.

 

The nature of the contract is a Building Agreement & Agreement for
Transfer.   

 

Upon completion of the Building Agreement the purchaser paid a fee to the
council based upon 40% of the purchase price.  The Agreement permits the
successful bidder to enter onto the land and commence development of the
site with a single dwelling for subsequent occupation by the purchaser and
his family.  The freehold transfer and sale completes once the council
obtains the balance of the purchase monies ,the sum of which is due upon
practical completion of the property.   In the event that the purchaser
takes occupation of the property without first providing a copy of the
practical completion certificate to allow the council to complete the
sale,  the council has further reserved the right to charge rent on the
property.  

 

The successful bidder is covenanted to take occupation of the new build
for a period of 1 year.

 

3.      Why our original response stated that the council received three
offers, but only two payments of £75.  

 

I can confirm that only the two of the three bidders paid the requisite
fee of £75 which had been outlined in the sales particulars. The third bid
was not submitted in accordance with the offer procedure and therefore was
not formally considered. For clarity, however,  I confirm that the highest
bid of all three submissions was accepted.

 

I hope this satisfactorily answers your query. However, if you are not
content with the outcome of an internal review, you have the right to
apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

 

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF

 

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Stuart Taylor

Corporate Information Governance Manager

Legal and Governance

 

[1]sandwell_mbc

Sandwell Council...working for you

 

Sandwell Council

Oldbury

West Midlands

B69 3DE

W: [2]www.sandwell.gov.uk

 

T: 0121 569 3715

E: [3][email address]

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council,

I am considering your reply but, in the meantime, can you clarify why the plan is stated to be "land off Mafeking Road" as this appears to be a material inaccuracy.

Yours faithfully,

Julian Saunders