Here we go; the greatest fire sale in history has begun

Well, it has begun at last. The great multi-billion pound fire sale of bank-controlled property assets looks like it is underway. The Times reports today on the £100m sale of the half-finished Trinity Walk shopping centre in Wakefield. A project begun by the now-bust Modus funded by Allied Irish Bank: a project now to be completed by a JV that includes Sovereign Land, builders Shepherd, and the US fund, Area Property Partners, run by Bill Benjamin.

The deal will come as some relief to those who had begun to wonder if any of the deals being hawked round by the banks would ever complete. Just about every solvent and respectable property business of any size has been approached to take over stalled development deals by representatives of the Irish and British banks. Until now the gap between the percentage the banks wanted to keep as upside and percentage the buyers wanted has proved unbridgeable.

The Wakefield deal should provide evidence of the hit the Irish banks (sorry Government) are prepared to take on development deals. But what of those investment deals like the Silverburn shopping centre in Glasgow, put on the market for £250m in September by Lloyds?

Well, three property company directors and a leading retail agent spoken to in the last week have walked around the place - and been very impressed. There are said to be at least 30 serious bidders. One bidder suggested on Tuesday that he expected the price to go higher than £250m. That will please Lloyds no end if it happens. For it will prove that selling the best asset first was correct. Why? Because it may help create the impression that the huge piles of far worse kit awaiting sale is worth a little more than it really is.