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Forster House, Hatherton Road, Walsall, West Midlands, WS1 1XZ
Guide Price* : £850,000
For Sale by Online Auction if Not Sold Prior
- Fully let town centre office building
- Total NIA of approx. 901.94 sq m (9,709 sq ft)
- 35 car parking spaces (ratio 1:277)
- Total net income £97,000 per annum
- Predominantly let to Extra Personnel Limited who have occupied as their HQ for over 20 years
- WAULT of 3.83 years
- Freehold site of approx. 0.132 ha (0.326 acres)
- Guide Price of £850,000 reflects NIY of 10.81%
Description
Forster House comprises a detached four storey office building with part ground floor utilised as a small retail unit.
We understand it was built in the 1950s and is of a concrete framed construction with a mix of brick and panel clad curtain walling and incorporating single glazed metal framed windows. Internally the property is finished to a good standard commensurate to its age and location, having carpet covered floors, suspended ceilings with recessed lighting, perimeter trunking, radiators and air-conditioning
cassettes.
Access to each floor is via a 6 person passenger lift and staircase positioned towards the south-eastern end of the property. There is a secondary staircase to the north-western elevation.
The toilets and kitchen facilities have recently been refurbished by the vendor and a wet-room/shower was also installed in the ground floor.
The ground floor is arranged with a small retail unit and a self-contained office suit with its own WC and kitchen facilities.
The property affords a prominent position and benefits from a large regular shaped site. There is car parking to both the front and rear providing approximately 35 car parking spaces.
Location
Walsall is one of the principal commercial centres within the West Midlands conurbation and is strategically located in the heart of central England.
Walsall benefits from excellent road links with it being within 4 miles of the intersection of the M5/M6 motorways, providing access to the national motorway network. It is approximately 10 miles north west of Birmingham and 8 miles east of Wolverhampton. There are frequent services to Birmingham New Street within an average journey time of 23 minutes and rail services to London Euston approximately 2 hours.
Forster House is situated on the fringe of Walsall town centre and is located on the north western side of Hatherton Road at its junction with Forster Street less than 500m to the north of the towns prime retail pitch.
Forster House is situated 2.8 miles to the east of Junction 10 of the M6 motorway which provides direct links to major cities across the UK. The property also benefits from being within a 10-minute walk of Walsall railway station.
Tenure
Freehold
Planning
The site is not currently allocated for a specific use within the Local Plan or Black Country Core Strategy document. The Walsall Town Centre Area Action Plan (2019) supports delivery of new homes through encouraging the conversion of existing buildings to residential (Policy AAPLV1, Residential Development), especially the upper floors, throughout the centre “provided it does not jeopardise the commercial function of the centre, and where proposals accord with Policy AAPB1 (Office Developments)”.
We do not believe that there is any Article 4 Direction prohibiting change of use to Residential through Permitted Development Rights, but buyers should satisfy themselves with regard to the site’s suitability for change of use.
Tenancy
The property is let by way of two effectively full repairing and insuring leases as outlined below and in the Tenancy Schedule, generating a total net income of £97,000 per annum.
Part of the ground floor is let to an individual trading as a tanning studio on a lease expiring 23 August 2022. The lease is currently producing £6,000 per annum but increases in August 2021 to £7,000 per annum and then again in March 2022 to £7,966.67 per annum.
The remainder of the ground floor and three upper floors are let to Extra Personnel Limited on a five year lease expiring 23 June 2025 and paying a current rent of £87,000 per annum. There are fixed annual increases of £1,000 per annum each year of the lease and for the purposes of the transaction the vendor will top up the rent to £90,000 per annum.
Tenant Information
Formed in 1992, Extra Personnel is a market leading independent recruitment business with a nationwide network coverage and over 6,000 staff. They form part of The Staffing Group which have a Group turnover of £343 million.
Having been established for almost 30 years, the company’s principal activity is temporary and permanent recruitment solutions for blue chip clients in a range of different sectors including Industrial, Automotive, Aviation and Technical. They are the 3rd largest provider of labour to the industrial market in the UK. Further information is available at www.extrapersonnel.co.uk.
The company has a D&B score of 2A2 which can be found alongside the financial results under "Related Documents"
VAT
We understand the property is elected for VAT. It is anticipated that the sale can be dealt with as a transfer of a going concern
Finance
Our Property Finance Team have sourced the below terms for the property:
• LTV – 70.00% of VP Value
• Term – 5 years
• Repayment profile – interest only
The same lender is also willing to offer Bridging Finance if required.
For more details please contact:
Ashley Elkin
aelkin@lsh.co.uk
07525 630 213
Contact
Joint auctioneers
* Generally speaking Guide Prices are provided as an indication of each seller's minimum expectation, i.e. 'The Reserve'. They are not necessarily figures which a property will sell for and may change at any time prior to the auction. Virtually every property will be offered subject to a Reserve (a figure below which the Auctioneer cannot sell the property during the auction) which we expect will be set within the Guide Range or no more than 10% above a single figure Guide.
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Subject to Contract and Exclusive of VAT © Lambert Smith Hampton April 2025
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