Council puts assets up for sale to generate £21m

Shops, offices, industrial buildings and even farms are being sold by a council to bridge a multi-million pound gap in its budget.

Swindon Borough Council has a significant portfolio of property it rents out to provide an income.

Members of the cabinet approved the plan unanimously this week, and hope the sales will generate £21million.

If the sales go ahead, around £11m will go towards paying off some of the debt it has to service from its annual revenue budget, particularly on expensive short-life assets like IT equipment and vehicles.

A shop in Cavendish Square is among the assets being sold by the council to generate income

The list of the properties for sale has not yet been made public, nor the price the council’s advisors say the authority might receive for each one.

This is to try and maximise the potential receipt, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

However, some of the council’s properties went up for sale before the latest decision was taken.

They include three shop units in Theatre Square and one in Regent Street, as well as units in two industrial park and a shop in Cavendish Square in Park South.

The council is predicting a multi-million pound deficit in its budget and has previously warned its finances are on a "cliff edge".

A report to the council’s cabinet said paying off the debt would outweigh the loss of income by about £300,000 a year, and it would still leave £10m for capital projects.