Commercial properties owned or leased by the council, and their current occupation status
Case reference FOI2023/01556
Published 29 September 2023
Request
I would like a complete list of all industrial, and commercial properties to include offices etc across the county, that are owned or leased by Herefordshire County Council and the current situation of each property, either let or vacant, I am not interested in any buildings used for residential uses. It should be a complete list
Response
A list of the properties owned or leased by the council is publicly available on the council's website via the following link:
Land charges and land ownership - Herefordshire Council
The list can be searched by property name, parish, ward or by classification e.g. commercial or industrial properties.
As such we consider this information to be exempt under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 because it is reasonably accessible to you via other means. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act for this part of your request.
Regarding the current situation of each of property and whether it is let or vacant, we consider this information to be exempt under Section 31 (1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which exempts information if it would, or would be likely, to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime. Empty properties are at risk of break in / burglary / trespass. I therefore consider that in this instance Section 31 of the Act is engaged.
In reaching this decision I have taken into account the Information Commissioner's guidance on this section and the Information Tribunal's decision in Mr C P England and the London Borough of Bexley v the Information Commissioner (EA/2006/066; 066, 10 May 2007) in which the Tribunal was 'satisfied that Section 31 (1) (a) is appropriate to information, even if the purpose of the collation of the information was not the prevention of crime per se'.
This particular exemption is subject to the public interest test, and accordingly I have taken the following factors into consideration:
The public interest in disclosure:
Openness and transparency regarding the current situation of each industrial and commercial property owned or leased by the council and whether they are let or vacant.
Disclosing details of empty properties could potentially assist in returning those properties to use if interested tenants were able to use the information to easily identify potential business premises in Herefordshire, and that could bring significant economic benefits to Herefordshire and the wider Marches region.
The public interest in non-disclosure:
If details of which of these properties were currently let or vacant was disclosed to the world at large in response to an FOI request, there is a higher likelihood of instances of criminal behaviour, such as squatting, cannabis cultivation, illegal raves, etc. being carried out in those properties identified as being empty. The arguments against release put forward by other local authorities who have received requests similar to this one, have highlighted that confirming which properties are occupied or vacant is likely to facilitate and encourage such criminal activity; providing a list of 'targets' for criminals to focus on.
Empty properties in Herefordshire have also suffered arson attacks in recent years. There have also been reports of squatters in non-residential properties. Although squatting in commercial premises is not a crime, there are often wider repercussions such as fraud, criminal damage and risk of theft of electricity. Indeed, the Advisory Service for Squatters (ASS) provides advice on how to squat in properties, indicating that lists of non-residential properties might be available from local authorities. The Voyias Tribunal states that they were 'provided with sufficient evidence in particular in material published by ASS … to satisfy us that squatters do check available lists of empty properties and that release of such a list by another council in response to an FOI request in the past had led to an increase in squatting'.
Disclosure of a list of empty properties may provide a 'shopping list' for interested parties, some of whom may have negative intentions or intend to squat. As outlined in the Information Commissioner decision notice FS50538789 it is 'clearly logical to argue that the disclosure of a list of empty properties would provide those intent on committing crimes associated with such properties an easy way to identify them'. Similarly a decision notice by the First Tier Tribunal (EA/2018/0033) also concluded that the 'provision of a readymade list makes it easier to commit crime: it enables criminals to avoid the significant effort of researching and compiling the information in relation to each potential target'. Therefore we have concluded that the possibility of crime is real and would be more likely to occur as a result of the information on empty properties being disclosed and subsequently, that public money would be used to detect and prosecute such crimes.
If an empty council owned property were targeted for break in, burglary or trespass, there would also be an associated cost to the public purse incurred by the council having to repair any damage, legal costs for the removal of trespassers and costs in re-securing the property. If such costs were incurred, to the detriment of other council services, this would not be in the best interests of the residents of Herefordshire.
The impact of crime can be substantial. Pre-pandemic figures show that rural crime cost Herefordshire more than £1 million, and insurance premiums could rise as a result.
We have previously sought advice from West Mercia Police and Hereford & Worcester Fire Service following receipt of information requests about empty properties and they have advised that the release of this information would leave properties vulnerable to crime. The council cannot discount the opinion of the police and the fire service, who have significant local knowledge and experience of dealing with these matters. This is especially the case because as outlined in Section 17 of the Crime & Disorder Act 1998, the council must 'do all that it reasonable can to prevent … crime and disorder in its area (including anti-social behaviour) adversely affecting the local environment'.
Although release of the requested information could be beneficial to the local economy, I would advise that the Local Enterprise Partnership's Growth Hub already provides a great deal of free advice and assistance to businesses currently in the area or looking to relocate to the area, including providing a commercial property register of properties available to rent / buy in the area (although it does not necessarily state whether that property is vacant or not). Likewise the council's Property Services team would be able to help those interested in leasing a council owned industrial or commercial property, without the need to disclose a list of which properties are empty to the world at large, which disclosure under the FOI Act would essentially do.
In view of the real and substantial risk which the release of the information could cause, the rural nature of Herefordshire and the economic assistance already freely available to businesses interested in the area, in this instance the public interest in non-disclosure of the requested information outweighs that in disclosure. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act for this part of your request.
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.