The Hove branch of Homebase has been put up for sale – one of 74 branches facing closure after the troubled DIY chain collapsed into administration a fortnight ago.
The branch in Brooks Road, Lewes, is also for sale with the stores advertising in effect a closing down sale.
According to reports, Homebase was waiting on tax rebates worth about £5 million before calling in the administrators from specialist firm Teneo.
Homebase said that its finances had been hit hard by an “incredibly challenging” three years for the DIY sector.
The administrators struck a deal to sell the business to retail group CDS, which owns The Range and Wilko, securing the future of up to 1,600 jobs and 70 stores.
But the future of 2,000 other workers and the remaining stores was left hanging in the balance, with the administrators putting 74 leasehold Homebase stores on the market.
The DIY chain’s collapse came amid reports that the banking group Wells Fargo had declined to extend the group’s lending facility due to concerns about its finances.
The PA news agency said that these concerns came as the retailer waited for about £5 million to be remitted back to it in tax rebates.
Commercial real estate adviser Altus Group, which represented the chain, said that more than 50 checks, challenges and appeals against the retailer’s property tax liabilities were outstanding at the time of its collapse.
The company was seeking reductions in the overall rateable value of its store portfolio by £5.7 million following a 2023 revaluation of its annual business rates bill.
Altus said that had these been dealt with before the retailer’s collapse, it would have resulted in tax rebates of about £5 million for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 financial years.
Alex Probyn, president of property tax at Altus Group, said: “The appeal process is just far too slow and ultimately damaging to cash flow.
“With business now facing the biggest tax increases in three decades, the 2023 tax base must be corrected quickly to ensure that ratepayers not only receive their rebates timely but also have the confidence that their bills have been set fairly.”
While the branches in Lewes and Old Shoreham Road, Hove, were for sale, the business was still trading from Discovery Park, in Westhampnett Road, Chichester, Lottbridge Drove, in Eastbourne, and the Heath Retail Park, in Broadbridge Heath, Horsham.
It’s a shame that the Range didn’t take it over. We don’t need another empty retail unit, or a hideous block of flats.
Hove needs something like the range or wilkos. There is nothing like that around here.
Once Wilko, B & M or The Range move in it’s a sign things are going down. Surely Hove can aim a little higher in terms of aspiration? Maybe if it was Hastings or Newhaven but in Hove?!
👏👏👏👏well said
Please turn it into wetherspoons, the location is bang on, 5 mins from hove station, power to the people.
Good idea but it would be an enormous pub 🫢
It’s a 20 minute walk from Hove Station to Homebase
I live nearby and certainly do not want to see another block of flats, that families cannot afford to live in. As it is already a retail outlet, I think it should stay as one. The Range, incorporating Iceland and a garden centre sounds ideal to me. We definitely do not need a pub as the Hove Park Tavern is 100 yards away.
I work near homebase so a range or bm store would be good we certaintly dont want a weatherspoons or any new builds or another supermarket as we have lidol down the road hope its a range
I work at Homebase in hove for 21 years , very sad to see go . Hopefully The Range take over
all lewes has is screw fix
we somthing like the Range or Wilko store because we have nothing here