Nottingham City Council facing 'significant challenges' in target to flog millions of pounds in assets

Nottingham City Council says progress on selling buildings off to plug its financial hole has been hampered by "significant challenges" with staffing. The Labour-run authority now says approval has been given to recruit extra staff for the relevant teams, which will put the sale of assets in "better stead" for the financial year beginning in April 2025.

The sale of city council-owned assets has accelerated in recent years as the authority tries to plug a multi-million pound hole in its finances. Sites sold off recently include the building that is home to the Embankment pub and the Falcon Supermarket on Carlton Road.

With £20 million of assets set to be sold through auctions for the rest of this year, the city council says the forecast for the next four years overall is that it will have sold over £140 million worth of assets. In a report being presented to councillors on Monday (November 18), the authority says: "This year's target is expected to be met, but there are significant challenges associated with resource...

"Financial approval has been granted to enable additional resource... but this is subject to the council's human resources approvals and recruitment, meaning that the impact on the 2024/25 financial year may be minimal. The extra resource will put the disposals pipeline in better stead for 2025/26 onwards."

Council documents show progress on reviews into several different categories of assets, with a review of "high value assets" complete and moving towards approval. Reviews have also started on agricultural assets, car parks and vacant land owned by the council.

The team working on selling off assets at the city council mainly operates with interim staff, meaning there has been a high turnover of people. The city council's report added: "Recruitment in the key partners of finance and legal services is also key as they are an integral part of the asset review and disposal process. Additional resources in these areas are key to maintaining and increasing the disposals pipeline."