Scotland Yard up for sale

For sale: Scotland Yard

NEW Scotland Yard, headquarters of the Metropolitan Police and one of London's most famous buildings, is up for sale.

The move has prompted the Metropolitan Police Authority to order a full "extraordinary" meeting in secret today.

Land Securities, the UK's largest commercial property group and the owner of the building, confirmed it was in talks over the sale of the freehold with a number of potential buyers. The firm has been hit by the plunging property market.

The Met has a 60-odd year lease on the building so it is highly unlikely the force will have to move under new ownership. The force will simply pay rent to a different landlord.

One source said: "It would make an ideal site for a hotel but we are staying put for the time being."

The MPA's "extraordinary meeting" has been scheduled to discuss one item described simply as "Central London estate". A spokeswoman refused to give more details.

Property analysts said that in the current financial climate it was highly likely a Middle Eastern cash buyer would be the preferred option as other potential purchasers would struggle to raise the loans needed to make a purchase.

However, Land Securities said: "We can confirm that we are in discussions with a select number of investors. We have received strong interest."

Land Securities had to slash the value of its portfolio - which includes several large London offices, some of them rented by government departments - by £1.7 billion, a cut of 20 per cent, because of the fall in commercial property.

Scotland Yard is listed on the company's website among those valued at more than £100 million.

The police headquarters - a Sixties office block - is famous for its revolving sign and a feature on the tourist map of London. It has been home to the Met since 1967.

The Commissioner and several senior officers are based in the building as are a number of the Yard's most secretive and elite squads, including the Counter Terrorist Command.

But in recent years it has become seen as a possible "spectacular" target for al Qaeda bombers and concrete blast barriers now surround the building to protect it against a suicide attack.

The Met has acquired several other sites around London and some senior officers have questioned the need for a central London location at all. While it is convenient for the Home Office and the Cabinet Office, some insiders believe the force could be more easily run from a purpose-built HQ at the force's training site in Hendon.

The Metropolitan Police was originally formed in 1829 with its HQ at 4Whitehall Place and a servants' entrance in Great Scotland Yard.

The servants' quarters were later turned into a police station and officers referred to the station by the name of the street. In 1890 a new HQ was opened on the Thames Embankment and named New Scotland Yard.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in