Elstree Studios, home to the Star Wars Original Trilogy and currently hosting BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, is at risk of being sold since its current owners, Hertsmere Borough Council, said they did not have the funds to repair and maintain the site.
The authority said it was also considering offering a long lease or finding a partner for a joint venture.
The leader of the council said the option of a sale had to “be on the table” but “the very first principle” of the plan for the future was for filming to continue at the site.
Construction of the film studios at Elstree began in 1925.
The first feature film to be completed there was Madame Pompadour and over 200 movies had been produced there by 1938.
The water tank at the site was used in the Dam Busters film in 1955 and, after hosting films such as The Shining and A Clockwork Orange, Elstree gave the world its first glimpse of the Star Wars franchise in 1976.
More recently, it has been the home of TV dramas such as The Crown, quiz programmes including The Chase and Pointless, and Strictly Come Dancing.
Hertsmere Borough Council took ownership of the studios in the 1990s and has been having to maintain buildings that date back more than 100 years.
The issues include problems with the roofs, flooring, windows and wiring and an official council report said, external that, given the “pressure on the council’s finances”, spending so much money on Elstree was “not sustainable”.
A previous exercise to secure the long-term future, external of the site revealed that there was “limited appetite among bidders/interested parties” for a condition that the site was used for film-making for more than a decade.
Any lease of less than 250 years was also unattractive to potential buyers.
The most recent report, which will be discussed by councillors on Wednesday, suggested four options for the site’s future:
• The council continues to own and run the complex
• The site is put back on the market• The council grants a long lease of over 100 years, or sells the freehold
• The authority forms a joint venture with an “industry specialist”The report recommended spending up to £230,000 on a valuation of the studios, an appraisal of the options and legal advice.
Jeremy Newmark, the Labour leader of the council, said the option of selling the site “has to be on the table”.
“Every time, it’s been the first [option] to be thrown out and that’s not always an easy decision to take because the truth is it’s a site that could be sold for a vast sum of money to a property developer [for] housing.”
But he added: “The very first principle that I set out for the exercise that we’re going to undertake is to seek to continue the site’s operation as a film and television studio for the foreseeable future.”
The debate at Hertsmere Borough Council about the future of Elstree Studios is unlikely to make an ideal subject for a blockbuster movie, but the council nevertheless faces a dramatic dilemma.
If it insists on a future buyer operating the site as a film studio, it might not persuade anyone to take it on.
If it allows the next owner to get rid of the lights and cameras and turn it into, say, a housing estate, it could be accused of selling off the family silver and ignoring the site’s proud history.
Either way, the financial and electoral implications could be significant.
We expect more news on this after next Wednesday’s meeting.
