The Royal Borough’s cabinet will consider plans to sell the freehold of Stafferton Way Retail Park in Maidenhead at a meeting next week.

The retail park is home to businesses including Halfords, Pure Gym, The Range and Tapi Carpets.

Marks and Spencer (M&S) is also set to relocate from its existing store in Maidenhead High Street to the retail park in the summer of 2027 – planning a fresh market-style food hall.

The council currently owns the freehold of the site but in 2004, it agreed a 250-year lease with the developers of the retail park, the Local Authorities’ Mutual Investment Trust.

The trust, which is managed by investment firm CCLA Investment Management Limited, leases the site on a peppercorn rent but there is no clause for the rent to be reviewed or a break clause.

There is a restriction in the current lease to prevent the site from being used for anything other than retail until 2029.

After ‘lengthy negotiations’ the long leaseholder has agreed to buy the freehold of the retail park for £150,000, a report set to go before a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (April 28) said.

It added that the money – treated as a capital receipt rather than revenue income – will go towards reducing the council’s ‘debt burden’.

If the sale is not agreed the council will then keep holding an asset that does not produce any income for the authority, the report said.

It added that when the restriction to only use the site for retail expires in 2029, Stafferton Way Retail Park could be redeveloped into residential flats, among other uses.

If the sale of the freehold is agreed, the restriction on retail-only use of the site will remain in place until 2029 but this is considered to ‘neither hinder or encourage future redevelopment of the site’.

“Redevelopment into residential flats is unlikely in the short to medium term, as the site is well let to various retailers and a gym operator on long term leases,” the report said.

“There are also numerous new build flat developments elsewhere in the area.”

The multi-storey Stafferton Way car park associated with the retail park is, however, owned by the council.

The long leasehold interest has access to a service yard through the approach road to the car park, with the leaseholder currently making contributions towards the upkeep of the area.

It allows HGVs to enter the site. These arrangements will remain if the sale of the freehold is agreed.

Residents and councillors have previously raised concerns about the condition of the car park and the need for its improvement.

The report sets out that selling the freehold of the retail park ‘would not fetter future redevelopment of the multi-storey carpark site’.