Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

BBC agrees sale of EastEnders set as part of Elstree studios deal

The BBC has exchanged contracts with Axa Investment Managers for the 16-acre site (Ian West/PA)
The BBC has exchanged contracts with Axa Investment Managers for the 16-acre site (Ian West/PA)

The BBC has agreed a deal to sell its famous BBC Elstree Centre, which includes the set of EastEnders.

The corporation will still have use of the facilities after agreeing to lease part of the studio campus for 25 years.

The BBC has exchanged contracts with Axa Investment Managers for the 16-acre site.

Royal visit to set of EastEnders
The King and Queen on a visit to the EastEnders set in Elstree in 2022 (PA)

The value of the sale has not been revealed but the BBC is currently looking to find £500 million in annual savings.

The campus includes seven stages and currently includes workshop, office and post-production facilities.

John O’Driscoll, global co-head of real estate at AXA IM Alts, said: “With the signing of BBC Elstree Centre we will be acquiring one of the oldest working TV and film studios in the UK, with a history dating back almost 110 years.

“The structure of the transaction allows the BBC to continue its production on the site for at least another 25 years, while providing us with the opportunity to invest in the site to create new world class studios.

“The whole area has a long and illustrious history of producing some of the world’s most celebrated films and television series and, under our stewardship, we aim to continue that legacy.

“The TV and film studios sector remains one of our conviction asset classes, being underpinned by increasing demand from an ever-broader array of production houses, content creators and broadcasters.

“This is coupled with very limited supply of high-quality modern film and production space, particularly in and around London where new construction is hindered by a lack of available land in the right locations.”

BBC Stock
The campus includes seven stages and currently includes workshop, office and post-production facilities (Ian West/PA)

BBC Elstree Centre was the first of several such complexes in the local area, which are collectively known as Elstree Studios.

Originally created as a film studio for Neptune Films in 1914, it was converted for use as a television studio in 1960 and sold to the BBC in 1984 as the production base and set for its new soap, EastEnders.

The wider Elstree Studios is one of the world’s most famous film and television production campuses in the world, where blockbusters such as Star Wars have been filmed, and is not included in the sale.

Alan Dickson, the BBC’s chief financial officer, said: “The sale of the Elstree Centre site is part of an ongoing review of the BBC’s property portfolio in order to provide the best value for licence fee payers.

“As part of the sale, the EastEnders site has been secured on a long-term lease and Elstree will continue to be the home of Albert Square.

“Moreover AXA’s investment ensures the Elstree site remains a fantastic asset for the UK’s creative economy.”