Company plans to buy Barclay properties in Sark

A company has announced its intention to buy the Sark properties previously owned by the Barclay brothers.

The estate covers about 20% of the island and includes more than 80 residential properties, five hotels and 19 commercial premises.

The Sark Property Company is preparing a cash bid for the estate.

It said Sark Estate Management, which runs the estate, was currently owned by Alistair Barclay, the heir of the late Sir David Barclay.

The BBC has approached Sark Estate Management for comment.

Mr Lorenz said “it’s the biggest portfolio of real estate in Sark” and an initial agreement on the sale had been signed.

The Barclay brothers – Sir Frederick and the late Sir David – bought the properties in Sark in 2007, after buying the nearby island of Brecqhou.

Buying Brecqhou – and the castle built by the brothers – is not part of the deal.

Mr Beaumont said the company was “working to secure the best possible outcome for the long-term sustainability of the community”.

“We will invest in affordable housing and financially support a mortgage programme,” he said.

Mr Beaumont said if the purchase was successful there would be local job opportunities “straight away”.

Mr Lorenz said he understood islanders would be concerned about a single investor buying up property on the island.

“We’ve been working on this for two-and-a-half years, so this is not a sudden development, we’ve been engaging with what I would describe as a group of two dozen high net worth investors,” he said.

He said he would make money from the project but said it would be transparent as the company would be floated as a publicly limited entity and all accounts would have to be published.

He added: “We are in the final steps of putting together a funding package which will allow us to make an offer to Alistair Barclay and then we will see where this goes.”