BBC to buy homes of relocated staff

The Guardian ^ | Tuesday December 14, 2004 | Rupert Jones

[Anti-Bubba182]

The BBC is attempting to soften the blow of its cost-cutting plans by offering to buy the houses of the 1,800 staff who are being relocated to Manchester - an initiative which could see it having to spend up to £470m.

Amid the uproar over thousands of staff being made redundant and the other radical proposals to reshape the corporation, the BBC's "house purchase scheme" has gone unnoticed by most.

Under the terms of the scheme aimed at those whose work is being transferred out of London, the BBC "guarantees to buy an employee's house to relieve them of the burden of selling and achieving an acceptable price", the current issue of the corporation's in-house magazine Ariel reveals.

Leaving aside the questions this raises as to whether the BBC should be buying up hundreds of properties, what it intends to do with them and what happens if there is a property market crash, this could be a very costly exercise, according to experts.

If the initiative was happening now, the BBC could have to shell out more than £470m if all 1,800 staff owned homes in the capital and took up the offer, bearing in mind that the average price of a house in London is now £265,300, according to the latest government figures.

A BBC spokeswoman was quick to point out that the relocation of BBC Sport, children's programming, new media and most of Radio 5 Live will not take place for five years, and added that there were a great many variables at play. Not all the affected employees will own a house, and some staff will not want to make the move and will opt to take redundancy, she said. Others will want to sell their home in the traditional way, using an estate agent, or will want to keep their home and rent it out while they are living in Manchester.

All these factors are likely to reduce the number taking advantage of the scheme, and make it impossible to estimate likely take-up or how much the BBC may have to pay out, the corporation said yesterday.

Many companies offer this type of assistance, but often it is limited to certain staff. The BBC scheme is open to all those affected.

The spokeswoman said the corporation would not hold on to the properties. It intended to run the scheme in conjunction with a specialist firm and would be buying the houses and then selling them on.

"The BBC is not going to collect a whole range of properties in Shepherd's Bush," she said. The BBC would agree to pay the market value based on two evaluations of the property. "Clearly this is something that a lot of companies do."

The Association of Relocation Agents said the BBC should be praised for doing something "very positive".

Tad Zurlinden, the ARA's chief executive, said: "Someone will have done a cost/benefit analysis and will be able to say that we expect X number of people will take us up on this."

The BBC is also offering staff whose work transfers out of London other perks including the payment of conveyancing and removal fees, "job search support" for partners, and advice on schooling and housing.

[Anti-Bubba182]

Golden parachutes at Taxpayer expense.

[Doctor Raoul]

Since the BBC are mostly commies, their new home could be a one room flat for the bunch.

[Doctor Raoul]

Since the BBC are mostly commies, their new home could be a one room flat for the bunch.

[mmartins]

or will want to keep their home and rent it out while they are living in Manchester.

With London house prices as they are, this is a license to print money

These people are going to come out of this very rich - at taxpayers expense