A charity for which Nottingham City Council is the sole trustee has significant debts relating to properties on a popular shopping street.

The City Council is the sole trustee of a charity called the Bridge Estate, created to maintain Trent Bridge by leasing 100 properties across Nottingham.

Each year, the proceeds from these go towards the ongoing maintenance of the bridge as well as an annual payment to the council to help support its services.

This has typically been around £ 1.5million in the past.

However, due to the decline in retailing due to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the collapse of shopping mall giant intu in 2020, the association has struggled to rent its properties in Lister Gate.

This means that debt relating to historic street properties stands at £ 2.2million as of March of this year.

A City Council spokesperson said: “The Bridge Estate is a charity established to maintain the Trent Bridge and benefit the citizens of Nottingham.

“The board is the sole trustee of the charity, which owns a portfolio of approximately 100 properties across the city that it leases to achieve its charitable goals.

“The annual surplus of this income is split between a maintenance fund for the bridge and a payment to the council for the benefit of the citizens – historically around £ 1.5million per year.

“The current shortfall is primarily for retail businesses on Lister Gate which have not generated the expected revenue due to a combination of the pandemic, increased online shopping and the demise of intu. “

Some of Lister Gate’s properties include the former WH Smith Building, 34 Lister Gate, NG1 7DD, and 38 Lister Gate.

The portfolio also includes 24-30 Castle Gate, NG1 7AT, which is also still in the market with Innes England.

The Governor’s House and the Judges’ Retreat Rooms on High Pavement have entered into leases.

The committee documents, which will be discussed at a meeting on Monday, December 20, state: “Bridge Estate has significant debt with respect to the Lister Gate properties, the outstanding debt as of March 31, 2021 is 2 , £ 2million.

“The budget set for March 2021 was based on sufficient capital inflows received during the year to cover the majority of the annual debt repayment. These forecasts of capital inflows have since slipped in 2022/23.

“The actual debt repayment in 2021/22 is £ 0.2million, if sufficient revenue is not guaranteed in 2021/22 this reduces the potential grant payable to the council.”

The board pointed out that the debt related to Lister Gate may not be as large as it looks, but it would have an impact on how much the board will receive from the annual surplus.

The city council spokesperson added: ‘However, these are only a small part of a property portfolio of almost £ 30million and the estate therefore has no problem repaying debt; it just means that the surplus that is normally returned to the board is reduced. “

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