Chichester's Pallant House Set To Be Valued As Ownership Change Looms

Specialists are to value one of Chichester’s Grade-I listed buildings to pave the way for proposals to transfer its ownership to the Pallant House Gallery.

Pallant House, in North Pallant, sits next to the gallery and is leased to it by the district council.

During a meeting of the cabinet on Tuesday (June 10), it was agreed that £30,000 would be taken from reserves to appoint specialists to give valuation and legal advice to the council on the potential Community Asset Transfer of the building.

The idea of a transfer has been on the table for a while but nothing could be done until the council got a Community Asset Transfer policy up and running.

With that now in place, qualifying organisations such as the gallery can apply for the transfer of council assets into their ownership.

When it comes to Pallant House, discussions are at an early stage and there is much work to be done by both the gallery and the council.

John Cross, cabinet member for culture, sport & place, said:

“Through this work, the council is seeking to ensure the continued preservation of this important historic building as an asset for use and enjoyment by the community.”

This is the first such asset transfers to be looked at by the cabinet.

While the council’s estates team has its own qualified and experience valuers, the historic nature of Pallant House requires the knowledge of specialists.

Leader Adrian Moss said:

“This is something we’ve talked about for a number of years and I’m delighted it’s now come to fruition. I think the investment is really worthwhile for the community and for the importance of arts and culture in our district and how that drives part of the economy, but also brings people in and really is something that’s very relevant.”