Nottingham City Council’s need to sell its buildings has ‘increased significantly’

Nottingham City Council says the need to generate cash from the sale of its buildings has “increased significantly”, despite already flogging £80m over the past four years. The authority now has £77m worth of assets in the ‘pipeline’, meaning it is considering selling these properties.

This year alone, the council says it wants to sell £30.8m worth of its assets. It comes after a review which began last summer found an additional £66m worth of assets the council could sell.

These assets include seven farms owned by the city council and 39 “high value assets” worth more than £750,000 each. The summer review also saw the council consider the future of 93 “operational properties”, including council offices and libraries.

Should Nottingham City Council have managed its finances better over the last 10 years?

Despite the millions already sold, the council says the need to raise cash from asset sales has increased significantly as it seeks to “repay” the Government’s support earlier this year. As it sought to plug multi-million pound gaps in its budget for this current financial year, the city council was able to apply to the government for £65m of ‘exceptional financial support’ (EFS).

This support does not take the form of direct cash payments, but gives the council permission to use the money raised by selling assets in a different way. The permission means the local council can use such money to cover its day-to-day running costs.

However, in a new report, which will be presented to councilors on Friday (July 26), the council says this support has increased the need for asset sales. The report says: “Following the successful application to the Government for the EFS, the requirement to generate capital receipts has increased significantly to ‘repay’ the EFS in addition to the funding transformation costs, reduce our debt and fund a future program of capital. As a result, there is a need for further growth in the pipeline, both within a year and for years to come.”

The Council therefore says it will continue to review its assets and a new disposal plan is currently being developed. The news comes after two floors of Nottingham City Council’s Loxley House headquarters were put on the market with a rent of more than £24,000 a month.