4 December - Post Office counter-manded
Fortunately there have not been many times that I have to publish a correction on Bonkers but today is one of them.
A year ago, following press reports that Bexley Council was the country’s seventh biggest property investor,
a list of the more interesting assets was published here. Among them was Erith Post Office for which Bexley Council paid £925,000.
Then in October this year it was noticed that the Post Office had dropped off of the Council’s asset register and
the Land
Registry reported that it had been sold for £900,000.
Land Registry record of Erith Post Office Sale December 2020.
It seemed a bit odd at the time given Bexley Council’s ambitions for Erith but
they are of course strapped for cash and anything is possible.
One of my Council contacts thought it was just a little too odd to be true and
took it upon himself to dig around. This is what he reports back…
Bexley council haven’t sold Erith Post Office, the £900,000 sale that showed on
Land Registry site as the Post Office was in fact the adjoining building
occupied by WDS Signs and the buyer is, it appears Bexley Council.
Their latest asset map shows an additional dot next to the Post Office. It is
listed as Non Operational: N453 Riverside Works.
When I spotted this I contacted the Land Registry and suggested to them that their
Post Office entry was wrong and needs altering to WDS Signs. Land Registry took
note and have now corrected the entry.
Go to https://landregistry.data.gov.uk/
enter post code DA8 1QY and dates 01/01/2018 and 01/01/2021 the £900,000 sale is
now listed as Riverside Works. Also shown is the sale of 89 Erith High Street
which is the Post office at £925,000. So Bexley now own the whole corner plot.
P.S. Wasn’t Teresa Pearce locally bred.
Thanks to inquisitive of Bexley, we know that Bexley remains acquisitive.
However even the arch Land Registry sleuth failed when researching Erith’s much
missed MP. Teresa is a Northern girl educated in Eltham.