Council to sell offices to fund school and vehicles

The former Chiltern District Council offices in Amersham are being sold off by Buckinghamshire Council as it said they were under-used

A council is to sell off offices to help fund a £300m reinvestment plan.

Buckinghamshire Council will put the former Chiltern District Council offices in Amersham on the market as they are only at 16% capacity.

The sale was approved by the cabinet last week and will pay for building a school and new vehicles.

Conservative council leader Martin Tett said the unitary authority was also looking to dispose of other major assets including the County Hall building in Aylesbury.

The council is also considering selling the county council building in Walton Street, Aylesbury

The unitary local authority replaced Buckinghamshire County Council and the county's district and borough councils in 2020, and held its first elections in 2021.

The council hoped the sale would contribute towards the council’s target of a raising £6m from selling its capital assets, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The funds could be spent on new long-term assets such as buildings, vehicles and equipment.

Mr Tett said the sale of the King George V House offices in Amersham would help fund its capital programme for 2024-25, which were still being drawn up as part of the budget.

“We are looking to spend £300m on capital items this year coming on everything from new vehicles to a new school."

The council will now seek offers for the freehold of the Amersham building, called King George V House, which saw the number of staff using it plummet during the pandemic.

The Walton Street Tower in Aylesbury is a local landmark

Among other assets being eyed up are the County Hall building – or Walton Street Tower – in Aylesbury.

Mr Tett said: "The Chiltern one is the first significant disposals of an ex-council building.

“We are looking very closely at what we are going to do with the old county council buildings in Aylesbury, the tower block."

The council was also considering selling off land.

About £170m was earmarked for capital expenditure for the 2023-24 financial year.

Mr Tett refused to comment further on the £300m figure he quoted for the council’s 2024-25 capital programme, which will not be finalised until February.

In a follow-up statement, he said money from council assets would be reinvested in services such as regeneration initiatives and affordable housing.