Council acquires the Guildhall shopping centre to secure its future use

Published: 11 May 2022

The City Council has revealed it has completed a deal to acquire Exeter’s Guildhall shopping centre.

The council believes it can best control the future use of the site if it takes ownership of it.

The popular shopping centre will continue as a key retail and food and drink destination for Exeter, and the Council will invest in improvements.

In the longer term, the site could also include some residential housing alongside the retail units and restaurants, but purpose-build student accommodation has been ruled out by the Council.

The decision to acquire ownership of the centre was approved by the Council’s Executive and at full Council.

Cllr Phil Bialyk, Leader of the Council, said: “We’ve now got a great opportunity to bring the Guildhall Shopping Centre under the control of the people of Exeter.

“We see it as a golden opportunity and we want to invest in it. We want to maintain and improve its current use. Eventually, in the future, it could come forward for some residential use, and when that happens we want it under the control of the Council.

“We want a thriving city centre for people to enjoy, with great shops and restaurants together with urban and sustainable living to support the vibrancy and sustainability of our fantastic city centre.”