Cash-strapped council's £600m sell-off 'unrealistic'

Civic leaders in Slough have been trying to get to grips with the council's finances since 2021

A council has revealed that selling off authority-owned property could raise less money than it had originally hoped.

Slough Borough Council wanted to raise £600m from property sales after going effectively bankrupt in 2021.

A report to council leaders suggests the values of properties had fallen since 2021 "due to a number of external factors such as market conditions and interest rates borrowing".

Now council officials are re-evaluating the council’s properties so that they can reconsider which of them should be sold off.

The council had hoped it could raise £400m by March this year, and the other £200m after that.

But a report to council leaders earlier this year revealed it had only raised £223.5m by March 2024 – just over half of what it had planned.

It said the target of raising £600m by 2027 was now "unrealistic".

The report to authority leaders this week said the market conditions and interest rates borrowing "causes a challenge" in hitting the £600m target.

They are set to update leading councillors at a cabinet asset sales committee meeting on Thursday.