Ulster's EUR 900m civil service property sell-off still on

Officials at the Northern Irish executive said late Wednesday that the planned EUR 900 mln sell-off of civil service buildings will go ahead, the Belfast Telegraph reported. The announcement by the Department of Finance and Personnel followed reports that the property sell-off had been halted due to the fragility of Northern Ireland’s property market.

'On 14 January invitations were issued to Land Securities Trillium and Telereal inviting them to submit their Best and Final Offers for the Workplace 2010 contract. When the bids are returned at the end of April 2008 the Department will begin a process of evaluation with a view to moving towards preferred bidder stage later in the year,' the department said in a statement.

The newspaper reported that the Workplace 2010 scheme, which involves almost 80 Civil Service offices being taken over by the private sector in Northern Ireland's biggest ever Private Finance Initiative (PFI) in the province, had faced a court challenge from the Partenaire consortium, one of the unsuccessful bidders for the properties. Workplace 2010 involves a range of Government buildings which will be sold to a private sector landlord, who will then rent them back to departments over a 20-year period.