Unwanted Richmond lease runs to 2112

DSD will sell the lease of Richmond Chambers in The Diamond - currently occupied by over 150 civil servants - if no other public body wants to acquire it.

The property is owned by Friends Provident Life Office but DSD holds the office accommodation on a 125 year lease from 1987.

DSD argues the disposal of the lease to the property will help attract private tenants and lessen the financial burden on the Department.

The move follows a decade-old Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) report on the management.

It follows a ten-year-old Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) report on the management of Richmond Chambers that found DSD was paying a heavy service charge under the terms of its lease for the office space.

This prompted the Department's decision to dispose of the property by transfer to another public body or by open market sale.

DSD will now dispose of the remaining term of the 125 year lease on Richmond Chambers in accordance with Land and Property Services (LPS) guidelines for the Disposal of Surplus Public Sector Property in Northern Ireland.

The adjacent Richmond Centre shopping complex was sold for 24m to West Register, the distressed assets arm of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), in May of this year.

The property was sold by administrators Ernst and Young who were appointed to the centre's former owners, WG Mitchell in 2009