A prominent office block in central Douglas was purchased by the government last year for £2.1m.

The government says IOMA House on Hope Street was acquired as a ‘more flexible alternative’ to older buildings currently occupied by some public sector workers.

Details of the price paid were revealed in a written response to a Tynwald question.

Onchan MHK Julie Edge asked new Treasury Minister Chris Thomas what land and buildings had been purchased by government departments in each year since 2021.

IOMA House had been placed on the market in 2023 with offers invited in the region of £4.25m.

At that time, the building was substantially occupied, with only the small ground floor suite vacant, and the part-let income working out at £350,407 per year.

International Financial Group Ltd (IFGL) completed a deal at the end of 2024 to buy Isle of Man Assurance Limited’s wealth book of business, which comprises around 2,000 policies and assets under management of more than £400m.

A spokesperson for Treasury said: ‘IoMA House was purchased as a more flexible alternative to older buildings currently occupied by government staff.

‘The purchase is aimed at providing options in relation to the government’s estate of rented and owned office buildings.’

As well as the purchase of IOMA House last year, Treasury also bought around 15 acres of land at Ballaterson, Peel, for £1.1m.

This is the site for the new regional sewage treatment works which is currently under construction.

In 2024, the Department of Infrastructure purchased six properties at Royal Park, Ramsey, for a nominal sum of £1 each.

In the same year it acquired a home on the Reayrt Mie estate in Ballasalla for £150,000.

In 2021, the Department of Health and Social Care purchased a property on Queen’s Valley in Ramsey for £545,000.