A North-East council is expected to make at least £10m when a series of city land and property sell-offs is completed later this month.
Cash strapped Newcastle Council bosses ordered the disposal of land, commercial units and houses in a “rationalisation” of its estate. It is in the process of auctioning off 15 properties and pockets of development land the authority says it no longer needs or can afford to exploit.
One of the first assets to go under the hammer was Halfords Auto Centre on George Street, Newcastle. It raised £175,000. A city centre car park plot on the corner of Strawberry Place and Leazes Park Road — which Newcastle United Football Club has already expressed an interest in — also went for £650,000 to an un-named buyer.
Two adjoining mid-terraced houses on Jesmond Road — designed by the architect John Dobson in the 1830s — were sold at a December auction for £660,000. Newcastle council is now considering selling a further 13 houses on the same street, collectively valued at more than £5m.
Other sales included:
Not everything found a buyer. A corner site in Arthur’s Hill, Newcastle, with a single-storey industrial unit let to a baker attracted a bid of £139,000 — just £1,000 short of the council’s reserve.
Nor is everyone in favour of the sell-off. “The sales will potentially swell the financial reserves of the council, but the question is what are they going to spend the money on?” asked Liberal Democrat councillor Greg Stone.
“Clearly the council will have buildings and assets they may want to cash in on, and I’m not opposed to that, providing they dispose of sites that lead to redevelopment and create jobs.”
Newcastle City Council has already hinted it will use the extra cash to fund future developments. “The council is not legally permitted to use proceeds from the sale of assets to fund public services,” explained an authority spokesman.
“All the proceeds raised will go into the council’s capital investment fund and be used to fund infrastructure improvements at various development sites, ultimately,” he added, “safeguarding the growth of the city.”
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