Luxury apartments are planned for the old New Scotland Yard sixties offices having been purchased for £120m more than the asking price by The Abu Dhabi Financial Group. Overlooking Westminster Abbey and close to St James’s Park, the Victoria Street project is expected to yield up to £100 million in stamp duty on the sale of the new flats when they are ready. The money garnered on this sale will go towards a new Met Museum which the Mayor, Boris Johnson is working on, and it will also purchase tablets, smartphones, and body cameras for bobbies on the beat.
The Met will be re-housed on Victoria Embankment complete with revolving sign. Though the move will cost £56m, a saving of £60m per annum will be made in running costs.
The move when completed, together with the saving in costs, and will be enough to fund 1,000 officers.
Sir Bernard Hogan Howe, Met Commissioner stated, “We now expect to need to be making savings of up to £1.4 billion by the end of the next spending review…so this money is absolutely vital to us.”