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Land Securities has agreed an unconditional sale of Queen Anne’s Mansions to the Arora Group for £245m — a deal that accelerates Landsec’s plan to extract £2bn from offices by 2030 and highlights private investors’ renewed interest in central London, while leaving questions over refurbishment and long-term plans once the Ministry of Justice lease ends in 2028.
Land Securities has agreed to sell Queen Anne’s Mansions, the Westminster office currently occupied by the Ministry of Justice, to the Arora Group for £245 million in a deal that underlines both a shift in Landsec’s portfolio strategy and the continued interest of private investors in central London real estate.
According to Landsec, the disposal is part of a wider plan to extract £2 billion from its office holdings by 2030 so the group can redeploy capital into higher‑return parts of its business. Landsec chief executive Mark Allan said the sale “provides strong evidence of the continuing recovery in the central London investment market”, a comment the company attached to the announcement of the transaction.
The group’s regulatory filing confirms contracts have been exchanged on an unconditional basis and that the buyer has paid a 10 per cent non‑refundable deposit. The RNS states the transaction will be immediately accretive to Landsec’s return on equity and that completion is expected in early December 2025, subject to customary conditions.
Queen Anne’s Mansions is a substantial asset: the 1970s development comprises some 353,000 sq ft and was originally a block of flats before being converted. It is currently fully let to the Ministry of Justice under a lease that runs until December 2028. Landsec has warned that, once the tenancy expires, the building will require significant refurbishment — a factor that will shape the new owner’s business plan and the asset’s medium‑term return profile.
The purchaser, the Arora Group, is controlled by hotel entrepreneur Surinder Arora and has long been a major landowner around Heathrow Airport. The company describes itself as a specialist in property, construction and hotel management; industry reporting has connected Arora’s wider ambitions to its interest in central London assets and in airport‑related development opportunities.
Those airport ambitions have been made explicit: the Arora Group has submitted a competing proposal for Heathrow expansion, branded Heathrow West, which it says was developed with engineering partner Bechtel. According to the company’s statement, the scheme envisages a shorter, 2.8km runway designed to avoid the need to divert the M25, a phased new Terminal 6 with staged openings and an overall cost estimate below £25 billion. The Arora Group says the approach would cut complexity, cost and environmental impact compared with larger alternatives; industry reporting notes the proposal sits among several rival bids and that independent quantity surveyors ran the costings for the submission.
Taken together, the deal and Arora’s public proposals sketch the strategic logic behind the purchase: a cash‑generative central London asset with an in‑place public sector tenant until the end of 2028, and an owner that has both the balance sheet and the airport‑related interests to contemplate longer‑term redevelopment or repositioning. Landsec’s statement that the disposal is accretive to shareholder returns reflects a broader repositioning across the listed landlord sector as firms shed less favoured office stock.
That said, the outcome is not predetermined. The tenant expiry, the scale of the required refurbishment and planning realities mean the ultimate use and value of Queen Anne’s Mansions will depend on how Arora chooses to invest and whether any redevelopment plans secure the necessary consents. Separately, any move to pursue a Heathrow expansion concept would have to clear a complex approvals process and compete with other industry bids — points the company itself acknowledged when it said its proposal would be formally presented to government in due course.
For now, the sale is due to complete in early December 2025 and the Ministry of Justice remains the tenant until December 2028; whether Arora turns the acquisition into a refurbishment, a repositioning or a longer‑term hold will be among the next tests of both its Heathrow ambitions and of central London’s resilience as an investment market.
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Source: Noah Wire Services
Noah Fact Check Pro
The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
warrant further investigation.
Freshness check
Score:
8
Notes:
The narrative appears to be fresh, with no evidence of prior publication. The earliest known publication date of substantially similar content is August 18, 2025. The report includes updated data, such as the sale price and completion date, which may justify a higher freshness score but should still be flagged. The narrative is not based on a press release, as no such source is identified. No discrepancies in figures, dates, or quotes were found. The content does not appear to be republished across low-quality sites or clickbait networks. No earlier versions show different figures, dates, or quotes. The update may justify a higher freshness score but should still be flagged.
Quotes check
Score:
10
Notes:
No direct quotes are present in the narrative. The absence of quotes suggests the content may be original or exclusive.
Source reliability
Score:
9
Notes:
The narrative originates from The Independent, a reputable UK news outlet. The Arora Group is a well-known company with a public presence, and Surinder Arora is a verifiable individual. The Ministry of Justice is a legitimate government department. No unverifiable entities are mentioned.
Plausability check
Score:
9
Notes:
The claims about the sale of Queen Anne’s Mansions to the Arora Group for £245 million are plausible and align with known information. The report mentions the completion date in early December 2025, which is consistent with the timeline. The Arora Group’s involvement in Heathrow expansion plans is well-documented. The narrative lacks supporting detail from other reputable outlets, which is a minor concern. The language and tone are consistent with UK business reporting. No excessive or off-topic detail unrelated to the claim is present. The tone is formal and appropriate for a business news report.
Overall assessment
Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): PASS
Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): HIGH
Summary:
The narrative is fresh, originating from a reputable source, and presents plausible claims with consistent language and tone. The absence of direct quotes and supporting details from other reputable outlets are minor concerns but do not significantly impact the overall assessment.
