The Head of Housing has submitted a report to seek approval for the sale of four Council owned properties on the open market, with the use of the resulting capital receipts into the General Fund for regeneration purposes.

Cabinet is recommended to:

1.      Approve the disposal of the freeholds of 39 Long Close, 163 Walton Street, 8 Cowley Road and 46 Stubbs Avenue;

2.      Approve the use of the resulting capital receipt into the General Fund for regeneration purposes; and

3.      Delegate authority to the Executive Director (Communities and People), in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing, to approve the terms of sale for each property.

The Head of Housing had submitted a report to seek approval for the sale of four Council owned properties on the open market, with the use of the resulting capital receipts into the General Fund for regeneration purposes.

The Cabinet Member for Housing reported that the four properties were void, and were considered to be beyond economic repair.  The principle of the disposals had been previously approved by Cabinet in January 2022 within an item on the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

The Leader recommended that preparation of the properties for sale should be made evident as soon as possible, in order to avoid any misperception that repair work was about to start.

In response to a question as to whether the Council might develop the properties itself prior to putting them for sale on the open market, the Head of Financial Services advised that the option of refurbishing the properties within the HRA had been considered as part of the budget setting process in February 2022.  It would have required additional borrowing, and, as there was no capacity to undertake additional borrowing in the HRA over the next few years without breaching the interest covered covenant set for the HRA, this option had been rejected.

Cabinet resolved to:

1.       Approve the disposal of the freeholds of 39 Long Close, 163 Walton Street, 8 Cowley Road and 46 Stubbs Avenue;

2.       Approve the use of the resulting capital receipt into the General Fund for regeneration purposes; and

3.       Delegate authority to the Executive Director (Communities and People) in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing to approve the terms of sale for each property.