The Special Cabinet Advisory Committee of Gravesham Borough Council met to discuss updates on the St George's Shopping Centre, and to review the RICS Economy and Property Update from May and August 2025. The committee was also scheduled to discuss a property information dashboard in private. Councillor Lenny Rolles, Chair of the committee, welcomed Councillor Narinderjit Singh Thandi as the new Vice-Chair.

St George's Shopping Centre

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the work being done to support business and footfall at the St George's Shopping Centre.

The report pack noted that the centre, built around 1983, has over 35 retail units. Reef and Partners jointly manage the centre in an asset management capacity, and Colliers handles the day-to-day property management.

The report pack stated that the council is aware of the challenges in the retail property market, and the pressure on the council's ability to grow rental income. It noted that online shopping, rising living costs and business restructuring have created a crisis on the high street across the UK, and that Gravesham is not immune to this.

The report pack listed a number of initiatives and activities taking place with the aim of addressing the changing demands of users of town centre facilities, further increase footfall, support businesses and the local economy, and drive up interest in lettings within the centre. These include:

• St George's Arts Centre: The Arts & Culture Team oversee the programming and delivery of a range of activities from the centre, including exhibitions, workshops, talks and events. The report pack stated that the arts centre has grown in popularity since opening, with demand for hire of the space outstripping original expectations and footfall increasing year on year.
• Events & Markets: The shopping centre is a focal point for the delivery of a range of events. The report pack stated that discussions are currently taking place as to how the undercroft area might be better utilised for more activities and events, as well as including additional seating which would encourage people to visit and stay; thereby increasing overall 'dwell' time.
• Trading Pods: Centre Management recently introduced St George's Flex which allows small-medium businesses to directly book container type pods for up to 30 days. The pods have been installed in the undercroft area by the children's play area. The pods are designed to be low-cost alternatives to renting business space which particularly benefit newer start-up businesses who are looking to expand into a commercial space or want to test their product before committing to a more permanent trading space.
• Post & Parcel Lockers: There are two collection lockers (Amazon and InPost) located opposite the lifts and conveniently placed near the stairs to the car park enhancing the shopping experience for customers.
• Children's Play Area: Plans are being considered to relocate the children's play aspect to the St George's Gardens area. Discussions have also been taking place to explore potential soft play operators who may be interested in delivering an offer from within the Shopping Centre.
• Co-working space (Tech Hub): The next phase is the strip-out work to the units which is scheduled to commence in September 2025. The workspace will comprise of rentable office space and hot desks, along with spaces for drop-in working which will help to increase overall footfall and support the local economy; as well as providing essential working space to meet a range of needs from local businesses from established working space to start-ups.
• Meanwhile Uses: Officers have been looking at a range of options to make better use of vacancies, such as short-term use by community organisations to reduce the negative appearance of such vacancies and attract ongoing footfall through the centre. Examples over the last year included the River Church which used a unit as a family hub.
• New businesses: Recent new businesses to the Shopping Centre include NH44 Café, Bar and Restaurant which now occupies the former St George's Café unit that looks out over the St George's Gardens. Terms have been agreed to let a unit on Kempthorne Street to an East Asian outlet.

The report pack stated that as well as the activities and initiatives set out above driving increased footfall within retail spaces, they have also supported the creation of employment opportunities.

RICS Economy and Property Update

The committee was scheduled to review the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' (RICS) Economy and Property Market Update from May and August 2025.

May 2025 Update

The May 2025 update noted that despite some rowing back in the tariff war, geopolitics continues to cast a shadow over the economic picture in the UK. It stated that business sentiment has been adversely affected by the increase in NI contributions and uncertainty as to whether more tax increases lie in store, but that lower interest rates are, however, providing some support for the real estate sector.

The update stated that economic growth will struggle to reach one per cent this year with projections for 2026 little better. It also noted that money markets, while still anticipating further interest rate cuts, are more circumspect than they were.

The update noted a sharp decline in UK commercial real estate activity between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025, with investment volumes equating to £9.3 billion in Q1, marking a significant 36% decrease from the previous quarter. It stated that offices were the only sector to exhibit a quarter on quarter increase.

The update stated that the most recent data has been pretty consistent in pointing to a slowing in activity (and a flattening in pricing) in the residential market, and that the critical issue is whether this is largely a reflection of the termination of the stamp duty break at the end of March or a response to a shift in the economic backdrop.

The update stated that the latest data from the ONS continues to show a broadly flat trend in UK construction activity, and that the headline workloads net balance came in at -1%.

August 2025 Update

The August 2025 update stated that although some of the concerns around tariffs have eased, the macro environment remains a source of uncertainty. It noted that the recent 'hawkish' base rate cut from the Bank of England has encouraged money markets to dial down expectations of further easing while considerable speculation is already underway around probable tax increases in the autumn budget.

The update stated that UK transaction activity in the commercial property market fell again in Q2 2025, and that a closer look at the data suggests that the subdued reading may be linked to the absence of large-scale deals, with no transactions exceeding £400 million recorded for the first time in five years.

The update stated that over recent months, there has been much discussion as to the impact of the ending of the stamp duty break on the housing market, and that predictably, most indicators suggest the change in the tax regime only led to a temporary dip in activity and that this has now reversed.

The update stated that the latest ONS data points towards an increase in output of more than 1% in the second quarter, but that the Construction Products Association highlights two particular issues; first, the data appears to underestimate costs, so when removing price from the nominal numbers, it overestimates volume and second, there may be a survivor bias in the contractor survey because of a rise in insolvencies.