Met Police HQ sold off for £370m

The headquarters of the Metropolitan Police has been sold for £370m to a multi-billion dollar alternative investment company based in Abu Dhabi.

The proceeds of the sale – which secured £120m more than the guide price and three times what was originally paid for the site freehold in 2008 – will be invested in technology for police officers such as tablets, smartphones and body cameras.

The New Scotland Yard site, situated next to St James’s Park Tube station and famed for its revolving triangle sign which will remain there, will become residential, and will probably also feature offices and a hotel, according to London mayor Boris Johnson.

Asked if he feared there would be criticism that another investor from overseas has moved into the capital, Mr Johnson said there is no economic difference between “having an investor from Abu Dhabi or having the BP pension fund do this”.

He added: “Anybody who thinks otherwise is, I’m afraid, completely economically illiterate.”