The Pantiles and Commons Go Up for Sale, as Council Rules Out Bidding Itself

Property management company TargetFollow has confirmed, in a statement published by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council on Friday 7 August, that it intends to sell its entire Tunbridge Wells estate — the Pantiles and the Commons together, rather than as separate disposals. Repairs to the Pantiles are understood to continue over the coming months regardless of the sale process. It's a significant combination to see move at once: a working retail and hospitality quarter that's home to many residents and businesses, alongside a large tract of registered green space that the council itself describes as a unique part of the borough's natural and historic environment.

The detail likely to surprise some residents is what the council has ruled itself out of. Despite saying it will look carefully at the terms of the Pantiles sale, the council states that, as things currently stand, it does not intend to participate in any bidding process — citing its existing commitments and the wider context of Local Government Reorganisation already under way across Kent. For a site the council itself calls a heritage jewel, sitting this one out is a notable choice, and one that puts the weight of finding a suitable buyer entirely on the private market and on community campaigners rather than the local authority.

That doesn't mean the Commons are unprotected regardless of who buys them. Writing in its capacity as Local Planning Authority, the council points out that the Commons are safeguarded by their own Acts of Parliament and carry longstanding public access rights that a change of freehold owner cannot simply override. The RCP car park on Major York's Road, sometimes mentioned in speculation about future development on the Commons, is not allocated for development in the adopted Local Plan 2025, and the council says no development proposals for that site have been considered. Cabinet Member for Planning Cllr Matt Lowe put it plainly: prospective buyers should understand that "these protections are there for a reason."

The sale wasn't always this size. When TargetFollow first notified the council of its intention to sell, on 26 September 2025, the announcement covered only the Commons — the Pantiles was explicitly excluded at the time, before this month's statement folded it into the same disposal. That original announcement triggered a formal process that's still running: because the Commons are listed as an Asset of Community Value, it gave the Friends of Tunbridge Wells and Rusthall Commons the right to confirm themselves as a preferred bidder, opening a window to raise funds and submit an offer. Joy Podbury, the Friends' chair, said at the time the group felt confident it could secure community backing to fund a bid — a process the Pantiles, which doesn't carry the same ACV protection, isn't part of.

On the community ownership question, the council's position hasn't shifted: it continues to back the Friends of Tunbridge Wells and Rusthall Commons' long-running bid to buy the Commons for the community. Deputy Leader Cllr Justine Rutland said residents should be reassured that "there are strong protections in place for both these valued and cherished assets," while stopping short of committing the council to anything beyond that backing. What isn't yet public is the practical detail that will actually determine how this plays out — an asking price, a timeline, or whether the Friends' bid can compete for the Commons portion of an estate being marketed as a single package. Source: Tunbridge Wells Borough Council