Arsenal left struggling to fill Highbury

Filling Highbury stadium was never the problem before Arsenal moved to its new home in Ashburton Grove in 2006.

Indeed, turning people and potential gate money away was the main business problem that prompted the club’s investment in a nearby venue that added more than 20,000 to its maximum attendance.

As property prices in north London boomed, the club launched its campaign to sell 655 flats off-plan in 2005, ahead of the sale of other memorabilia including toilet tiles and wheelie bins, to help finance the move to the Emirates.

Amid a flurry of sales interest, it is understood that even Arsène Wenger, the manager, was pipped at the post in an attempt to reserve a coveted flat on the site of Highbury’s home dressing room by one fast-dialling eager fan.

But a boom-then-bust housing market, and the collapse in availability of cheap mortgage finance means the club has struggled to fill its old stadium.

Last year’s annual report suggested that 598 of 655 apartments were “the subject of exchanged sale contracts”. But poor sales completions since 2005 at Highbury Square have left more than 30 per cent of the 655 flats still available, the club confirmed on Monday.

Part of the overhang has been removed by a deal by London & Stamford, the Aim-listed property company, which completed the purchase of 146 units from Fraser & Neave, an early-stage Singapore-based investor, for £41.4m ($65.6m).

Agreements on such bulk sales has allowed Arsenal to book cumulative sales of £172m and extend the term of a bank loan, which has been reduced from £133m to £47m, on the Highbury venture.

But on Monday the club was forced to admit that completions have been “much slower than was predicted” in its original development plan. There remains plenty of room available for rent to the Arsenal faithful at Highbury’s North Stand.